


The Broken Soul of a Space Pirate

by munch1195



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Flashbacks, Gen, I'm Bad At Tagging, Kidnapping, Night Terrors, Odd Crew/Captain Relationship(s), Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Slow To Update, Tags May Change
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-28
Updated: 2018-08-15
Packaged: 2019-02-22 22:39:23
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 15
Words: 45,325
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13176681
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/munch1195/pseuds/munch1195
Summary: Another Altean is still alive, only he doesn't act anything like Allura or Coran.Basically I made an OC and this story is about him and his interactions with the Paladins and other aliens.





	1. Chapter 1

"You sure about this?" Zovess asked as he stood next to Ottokar. Zovess is a male Galran with furry ears like a cat. He stands about a foot taller than the 7'6" Ottokar, and is well built. "They're paladins of Voltron. You know the universe's only hope in the fight against the Galra empire." Ottokar glanced over to Zovess with a slight smirk.

"That's what makes it fun, my dear general." Ottokar said, his hair covering the left half of his face. He walked out with his slight limp and snapped his fingers. He straightened his leather jacket and headed in the direction of the paladins. "Just follow my lead." Ottokar said and pulled out his bo-staff, using it as a cane. Zovess walked over to Ottokar's side and helped him walk, even though he doesn't need any help his limp isn't that bad.

"What am I supposed to say, my master?" Zovess asked quietly as they were walking through a crowd.

"Just play mute like you do on the ship. Just no meowing, alright?" Zovess made a purr like noise and nuzzled his nose close to Ottokar's cheek. Ottokar made sure his eye marking was covered as they walked closer, as he saw both Coran and Allura with the paladins. The red paladin was the first to spot the duo and went on defense, causing the others to follow suit. "Woah, easy there wolfie. Zovess here is harmless." Ottokar said raising his hand in a polite manner.

"Harmless? He's a Galra." The red paladin said taking a step forward. Ottokar raised his brow and carefully looked him over. A slight smirk came to his lips.

"Then the same could be said for you, young paladin. Isn't that right?" At this the red paladin faltered. "Names Otto. This here's Zovess. You see he's a huge fan of voltron and really wanted to meet you all." Ottokar said motioning his hand to Zovess who in turn attempted to shuffle behind Ottokar. "He's a little shy, and kinda mute so I came over with him. But if you don't like him here we can go, I just thought you'd like to know at least he supports you. Guess we were wrong buddy. I'm sorry." Ottokar turned a bit and patted Zovess' arm while Zovess looked away with his ears folded down slightly.

"Wait. He didn't mean anything by that. Keith's just not a people person." The blue paladin said running up to catch Ottokar's arm. "The name's Lance. It's nice to know that not all the Galra are under Zarkon's control." Lance smiled and held out his hand. Ottokar smiled a bit and shook his hand.

"Zovess isn't the only one. I've known several others like him. Some are actually on my ship, they just don't go land side since they're Galran. Maybe I could take you to meet them? I'm sure Nagaz would be thrilled to meet you. He's got a thing for pretty blue eyes." Ottokar said throwing in a wink for good measure, drawing a slight flush to Lance's cheeks. Allura and the Yellow paladin walked over with the others following a few paces behind. Zovess tried hiding further behind Ottokar to appear shy.

"You are quite tall for a human." Allura said slightly skeptical of their newest fans. Ottokar raised a brow and pushed some of his deep auburn hair behind his right ear. His ear however looked as though a bite was taken out of the top of it, obscuring what it should have looked like. Allura looked shocked as well as some of the others.

"I don't think I said what race I am. I do apologize for disturbing you though my lady." Ottokar said bowing his head slightly.

"It's alright Otto. We could use some support from everyone we come across." The black paladin said putting a hand on Ottokar's shoulder.

"How'd you know that I was part Galra?" Keith asked as it got quiet. Ottokar raised his brows and looked at Keith in a convincing shocked look.

"I thought that was obvious." Ottokar said and Zovess nudged his shoulder with his head in comfort. "My eye. I-It's bionic." He said quietly, tilting his head to the side. The green paladin's eyes lit up and she quickly ran up and pulled Ottokar down to her level, shocking him and Zovess.

"That's so cool." She said as she kept her eyes trained on his eye.

"Not really." He said unsure about how to react to her. "It's sorta a pain in the neck. More of a headache really." Zovess put his hand on Ottokar's shoulder. "Yeah, I'm alright Zovess. Not slipping yet." Ottokar mumbled pulling himself out of the green paladin's hands.

"Slipping?" Lance asked tilting his head slightly.

"I used to be a prisoner of the empire. Zovess and I got out with Atraq and Nagaz. Occasionally I slip back into the arena. Hasn't happened lately, but anything can trigger it." Ottokar said honestly. They all looked a mix of shock and sadness.

"The arena. You were there?" The black paladin asked. Ottokar nodded.

"Well it was pleasure meeting you. I'm sure Zovess is thrilled as well, but we should be going. The others on my ship will be getting antsy sitting in one place for so long. Till next time then." Ottokar nodded his head and started off with his makeshift cane and an exaggerated limp with Zovess following.

"I don't know what he is but I can smell trouble." Allura said as she crossed her arms slightly, she watched as the two walked away.

"Want me to follow him and see if he was telling the truth?" Lance asked drawing Allura's attention to him.

"Not alone. Shiro will you accompany him? I would like to make sure he's not trouble." Allura said and Shiro nodded.

"Yes princess." Shiro said and both he and Lance headed off after Ottokar and Zovess.

"I can't shake the feeling I've seen him somewhere before." Coran said pulling at his mustache slightly.

"How do you mean?" Allura asked.

"Like a faint memory. He reminds me of someone I once knew back on Altea, but he'd be dead by now." Coran said looking confused.

"Hopefully it's nothing then." Allura said looking in the direction where Shiro and Lance went.

~~~

"I still think this is a bad idea my master." Zovess said leaning in close to Ottokar.

"Relax, two are following already." Ottokar said nuzzling back into Zovess. "Which would you want? The black or blue?" Ottokar asked with a slight smirk.

"I sorta liked the blue. And like you said Nagaz would like him too. The black seems a little- I don't know, something about him seems dangerous." Zovess said as he took a step to the side. Ottokar smiled with a small laugh.

"I think him and I have more in common than you'd think. Maybe that's why you think he's dangerous." Ottokar hooked himself into the cameras that were around the mall and saw how close the two paladins were. "I think I like the blue one too. He'll make a fine brother to you and the others." Ottokar nuzzled his head into Zovess' shoulder and headed to a less treaded hall being sure that the two were following. They passed an Unilu shop that they often stopped at. Ottokar sent a look to the Unilu, who nodded back. As soon as the paladins passed the shop the Unilu shut off the hall they walked in. The two paladins looked confused as they continued to follow Ottokar. As he expected the paladins came closer and Ottokar misplaced his cane and faked a fall. "Ahh." Ottokar groaned and pulled himself up slightly as Zovess grabbed the bo-staff.

"Are you alright?" Lance asked as he ran over, kneeling next to Ottokar, placing his hand on his shoulder.

"I-I think I twisted something." Ottokar said pulling his leg up so he could 'inspect' his knee. Shiro came over as Zovess knelt down with his ears drooping.

"You sure it's twisted?" Shiro asked as he got closer.

"The darn thing hasn't worked right for Deca-phoebs." Ottokar said watching Shiro carefully.

"Thing? What's wrong with your leg?" Lance asked.

"It's bionic too." Ottokar said and Shiro leaned just close enough to where Ottokar kicked him in the chest, knocking him back a ways. "You really shouldn't follow people you know next to nothing about." Ottokar said getting up. Lance scrambled to his feet and went to go to Shiro until Zovess tackled him.

"What do you want?" Shiro said getting to his feet and activating his arm. Ottokar raised a brow and pulled his jacket off, activating both his arms, similar to how Shiro's was.

"At the moment? I just want you unconscious, that way you can't follow me to my ship. That's bad manners. Also it isn't polite to stalk people." Ottokar said. Lance huffed and tried getting out from under Zovess.

"We weren't stalking you. We just wanted to find out if you were bad news. Guess the princess was right." Lance all but growled Zovess only growled in response.

"Easy Zovess. You heard 'em. They only wanted to know who we are." Ottokar said walking closer to where Shiro was standing. "Should we tell them?" Zovess only shook his head.

"Well, now what? We're at a stand off of sorts." Shiro said and Ottokar only huffed.

"Stand off?" He asked as he moved a foot behind him. "I think we're done here." Ottokar said dashing towards Shiro who barely was able to block the attack.

"Shiro!" Lance shouted as he watched the two spar. It didn't take long for Ottokar to get Shiro in a headlock.

"Tell princess Allura that I will give her paladin back when I get bored of him." Ottokar said and knocked Shiro out. Lance yelled out profanities in spanish at Ottokar. "Yeah, yeah. I'm a dirty scoundrel. Now Zovess, if you'd be so kind as to knock him out too?" Zovess nodded and soon Lance was in the same condition as Shiro. "Get to the shuttle my kitty. Take him with you and take my stuff as well. I have to make sure the way is open again." Zovess nodded and picked up Lance, slinging him over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes, heading back to the shuttle that was parked in the back of the mall. Ottokar shifted, with a pain filled groan, into an Unilu. He headed to the shop and let the shopkeep know that it was safe to open the way up again. Before Ottokar got too far he saw the yellow paladin walking in his direction. Ottokar made sure to walk slower than he would have and headed in the direction of his shuttle. He watched as the paladin walked past him to where he left Shiro. Almost as quickly as he passed the paladin came running back and grabbed the Unilu disguised Ottokar by the shoulder.

"Did you see this really tall guy and a Galra pass by here?" The paladin asked slightly panicked.

"That depends. What's in it for me?" Ottokar asked disguising his voice. The paladin looked confused. "You don't meet a lot of Unilu's do you?" He shook his head with his hands still on his shoulders. "Tell you what, you get a freebie this time. Let's say I did see your guys. But they're long gone by now."

"Do you know what kind of ship they're flying?" The paladin seemed frightened.

"Something sturdy. Maybe looks like it's taken a few hits from a Galra cruiser. That's just my guess though, but the longer you stay talking to me the further they get away." The paladin nodded and took off back the way he came. Ottokar shifted back into his normal form with a sigh of relief. "Ugh, I hate doing that." Ottokar said rolling his shoulders to ease the pain of shifting. He started walking back to where he left his shuttle and quickly boarded. "Onboard my pet. Let's get this baby purring." Ottokar said closing the door behind him.

"Yes sir." Zovess said and started up the shuttle. They were soon airborne and headed back to the main ship, an old Galra cruiser that Ottokar snatched during his escape. There were a few sentries on board, they were all rewired and followed Ottokar loyally. As they were out of the atmosphere, heading to the moon that hid the cruiser, Zovess pinned Ottokar to the wall while lance lay unconscious in one of the chairs with his hands tied.

"Guess kidnapping turns you on more than I would have guessed." Zovess leaned down and deeply kissed Ottokar.

"It isn't that, my master." Zovess said as he trailed his kisses down Ottokar's neck. Ottokar hummed earning a purr.

"Then what is it, my pet?" Ottokar asked running a hand through the fur on Zovess' head. Zovess purred as he leaned into the touch.

"When we get back I'll have to share you again." Zovess purred and leaned in for another kiss. Ottokar kissed back, switching their positions so Zovess was the one pinned.

"Possessiveness could be considered an endearing trait my kitty cat. What would you do, before we get back? You know there isn't much time." Ottokar pinned Zovess' hands to the wall of the shuttle. Zovess made a whining noise as he tried to free his hands.

"I-I could settle for a cuddle." Zovess said quietly. Ottokar raised a brow and let Zovess go with a small laugh.

"Alright then. I'm going to sit in my chair, you can come cuddle when I'm settled." Zovess purred and watched carefully as Ottokar settled in the seat near Lance. Only when Ottokar patted his lap did Zovess move. Zovess crawled into the seat and cuddled against Ottokar's chest. He didn't speak, only purred in content. Ottokar brought a hand up and started petting Zovess while he hummed. "Maybe when we get back I'll let you and your brothers play around while I get our new guest settled." Ottokar said quietly and Zovess tilted his head up in interest. "Would you like that?" Ottokar hummed and Zovess purred nuzzling into his shoulder. "Would you like to use the play room or the bedroom?" Zovess pawed at Ottokar's shoulder once, drawing a smile from the later. "The play room it is. I'll make sure Lance is comfortable while you play. I may join you later." This earned him an excited purr from Zovess. Ottokar continued scratching Zovess' scalp as the two cuddled in the somewhat smallish chair, well at least compared to the two of them. "We'll arrive back home in about seven doboshes, you good to cuddle till then?" Zovess purred and nuzzled into Ottokar's shoulder again. Ottokar hummed and looked out the front window. "There's our angel, just how we left her. I sure hope your brothers behaved themselves." He grinned as he pet the shell of Zovess' ear.

"Would you punish them if they didn't?" Zovess asked leaning into the touch.

"Isn't that what I normally do to unruly pets?" Ottokar asked looking down at the Galra in his lap. He watched in humor as Zovess' ears folded back while he ducked his head. "Don't worry my kitty cat, you've been a good boy so far." Ottokar patted Zovess on the head. "I'll take Lance to the pods and make sure he's alright. Then we'll plot our next move. Just as long as it's out of reach of that Marmora group and Voltron. Maybe we'll get another ship into our flock, we've got four already. Now that we have a paladin it'll be easier." Ottokar was thinking out loud by this point and slipped into muttering. Zovess reluctantly got out of his spot and made sure to pilot the shuttle back into the bay where the other stolen shuttles were.

"We're cleared for landing sir." Zovess said and soon set the shuttle down gently.

"Go get your brothers. You can tell them you all can play in the play room for six vargas. If I am not there by then, you are to find me in the control room. Is that understood?" Ottokar said walking over to Lance picking him up and slinging him over his shoulders.

"Yes sir." Zovess said with a hint of a smile on his lips. He left in order to find his brothers and bring them all to the play room for much needed play time. Ottokar took Lance and headed to the infirmary to give him a once over. That and to check his own bionics.

"Gotta make sure you aren't injured, hate for the princess to think less of me than she probably already does." Ottokar said with a slight grunt as he resituated the weight of Lance on his shoulders. "Nothing personal young paladin. Just need to get some people to believe in their own strength. That way you all can get a break from flying around in those giant flying targets." Ottokar sounded a little bitter as he spoke. He carefully put Lance in a pod to make sure he wasn't injured, as he said he would. "Looks like you're golden little blue. You can stay in there for a couple Doboshes while I check my bionics, can't you?" Ottokar asked rhetorically seeing as how Lance couldn't answer. The scan showed what it always did when Ottokar checked his bionics, they were all fine except his left knee. The wires were all sorts of out of place, but he couldn't fix it. Even with the help of Wikchic, his Olkari crew member, the knee was as close to fixed as it was going to be.

It took a couple Varga's before Lance woke in the custom built healing pod.

"So you kidnap me and put me in a healing pod? What's the point in that?" Lance asked as he stumbled out of the pod. He took a look around and noticed three others like it, looking similar to the ones back on the castle ship.

"You're uninjured. You're welcome." Ottokar said standing from his chair, where he was sat looking over charts of Galra movement.

"Why should I thank you? You attack me and Shiro, and take me to this ship away from my friends. What is there to thank?" Lance asked with an edge to his tone. Ottokar stalked closer to Lance and put a hand on the pod behind him.

"Because, Lance, if I wanted you dead you would have stopped breathing before you even saw me. Along with countless others. I only took you because I had to. Voltron can't be formed if one of the paladins is missing-" Ottokar didn't get much further than that when Lance pushed against his chest, not really doing anything.

"So you're on Zarkon's side? I should have known. What are you some kind of Galra half breed?" Ottokar took a breath to calm down. Lance was being more difficult than he anticipated, perhaps that was a human trait.

"I am not of Galra blood." Ottokar said coldly that it sent a shiver down Lance's spine. He didn't like the way it was said. "Although I doubt your Altean's remember me. It's been well over ten thousand Deca-Phoebs." Ottokar slowly pushed the hair out of his face, revealing the light green under eye marking that was thinner and slightly more elongated than that of Coran or Allura's. "Voltron isn't needed at the moment. Zarkon is barely back on his feet, and the planets he's over-ruled can be taken back by the citizens." It was quiet for a moment before Lance finally drew his gaze away from the Altean marking.

"Why are you so against Voltron?" Lance asked quietly and Ottokar barked out a laugh.

"Against? I'm not against it. I watched and even helped King Alfor build the ships, but it is not the all answer that people search for." Ottokar stepped away and turned his back to Lance before resituating his hair back over his eye. "Voltron, did not save me from the arena, from the experiments. I got out on my own, even found a crew that was able to break away as well." He turned back to Lance to find he hadn't moved from his spot. "Tell me, how often do you tell your fans, your support, that if they only believed in themselves they could defeat Zarkon's control alongside Voltron? How often do you inspire strength in those who believe Voltron is the answer? Olkarion was once a captive planet. How many Olkarions took up arms and fought for their freedom?" Ottokar asked his questions slowly so they would sink in for Lance.

"Do you know how difficult it is for a peaceful people to fight back?" Lance asked in a venomous tone. Ottokar fixed a glare on Lance and leaned down so they were face to face.

"Do not assume I know nothing of the suffering the Galra put people through. I was captured Phoebs before Altea was destroyed, and only escaped maybe six Deca-phoebs ago. I know more about their cruelty than you can even begin to imagine." Ottokar said darkly. Lance swallowed his next statement, afraid to anger Ottokar. "You'll be staying in my room for the time being." Ottokar said grabbing the collar of his uniform and dragging him along.

"What? Why?" Lance asked as he tried to free himself from the bionic grasp.

"Since my room is the easiest to seal shut, to make sure you don't try anything funny. That and I can keep a closer eye on you while you are under my care. I have a few things I need to take care of before I can introduce you to my crew. Be a good boy and maybe you'll get wandering privileges." Ottokar said as he made his way to his room, all the while Lance was wiggling to get out of the grasp. Ottokar threw Lance in and stood in the doorway. "Destroy anything and you will be punished." Ottokar said shutting and locking the door behind him. With a sigh he headed off to the play room where the rest of his crew, minus the reformed sentries, were playing. "What a quintant."


	2. Chapter two

"Ready to meet my crew young Lance?" Ottokar said as he opened his doors. Lance was merely sitting on the bed looking at a tablet with a portrait on it.

"Who are the other people in this picture?" Lance asked as he held up the tablet. "I recognize Coran, and I'm guessing this is King Alfor. Then there's a much different you, but who are the others?" Lance seemed genuinely curious. Ottokar gazed at the photo with a sad look and put it on the shelf.

"They are no longer among the living." Ottokar said and pulled Lance up by the arm. "Let's go meet the others, they're restless knowing that you are here." Ottokar said as they walked into the hall. Once there Ottokar let go of Lance's arm and was slightly surprised that Lance followed.

"What are the others like? You said there were Galra here, are they like Zovess?" Lance asked and Ottokar almost choked on laughter.

"No. I have yet to meet anyone like Zovess. He is unique, much like the others. There are two other Galra, Atraq and Nagaz. Three Balmearans, Wol, Skurr, and Cinn. Two Unilu's, Nuk and Duner. And one Olkari, his name is Wikchic. The rest on this ship are reformed Galra sentries." Ottokar said as he led the way to the control room where the crew members were.

"Sentries? How'd you manage that?" Lance asked, he seemed less hostile than he did before.

"Look at the ship around you. Tell me where you think you are?" Ottokar said folding his hands behind his back as he walked at a slow pace for Lance to follow. Lance looked around, taking note of the dark colors of the halls that looks vaguely familiar.

"This looks almost like a Galra ship." Lance said as he walked to the wall.

"A cruiser actually." Ottokar said drawing Lance's attention to him.

"How'd you get your hands on a cruiser?" Lance asked with an unconvinced look.

"Stole it when I escaped. There are four others like it under my command." Ottokar said and continued his walk to the command center.

"Four others? How do you keep track of them if all the cruisers look the same?" Lance asked as he quickened his pace to catch up to Ottokar.

"Look at the light's paladin." Ottokar said. Lance followed instruction and looked at the lights.

"They're blue. Like on the castle ship." Lance said quietly. "You have a Balmearan crystal powering the ship?" Lance asked, growing more comfortable around his his kidnaper.

"Yes. A gift of the Balmearan brothers of my crew. The Galra killed their Balmera, I was too late to save it but all the other Balmerans I was able to transport to a safer place." Ottokar said entering the control room.

"Captain on the bridge." One of the Balmearans said, and the rest stood at attention.

"Captain? You're the captain?" Lance asked seeming bewildered. Ottokar raised a brow to Lance.

"You find that hard to believe?" Lance didn't answer. Ottokar led Lance over to Zovess. "I believe you've already met Zovess, He's my second in command."

"I do apologize if you were injured by my actions." Zovess bowed a bit at the waist. Ottokar led Lance over to the two other Galra standing near a control panel.

"The big guy's Nagaz, his shorter companion is Atraq." Ottokar introduced the two and they turned as their names were said. Nagaz, a good 10'4", leaned down to look Lance over. Nagaz had longer fur than Zovess and almost resembled a main coon with the length.

"Blue." Nagaz said in a surprisingly soft tone for his size. His larger shaped ears waving back and forth in excitement.

"You really are big aren't you?" Lance said stepping back. Nagaz's ears drooped a bit as his face fell slightly.

"You trying to get yourself stabbed, dark one?" Atraq asked as he pointed a dagger at Lance's belly. Lance held up his hands and looked down at the much shorter Galran. Atraq stood at a proud 4'0" tall, he had much shorter fur and looked similarly to Ulaz Lance noted.

"Easy there Atraq. He's not quite accustomed to a Galra of Nagaz's size." Ottokar put a hand over Atraq's, pushing the blade away from Lance. "He meant no offence." Lance seemed a little confused looking between the three. He tried to think of something witty to say to diffuse the situation.

"Are you from space?" Lance asked putting a hand on his hip as he looked to Nagaz with a smirk. All three, and even a few of the others, looked to Lance confused by the question. "Because I think you're out of this world." It took a moment before Nagaz leaned closer to Lance with a smirk of his own. His large ears perking up a bit.

"You're eyes are blue like the ocean." At this his smirk got wider. "And baby, I'm lost at sea." Nagaz purred slightly and nuzzled against Lance's cheek.

"Careful who you flirt with Lance. My crew here is very active and could probably out flirt you." Ottokar said patting Lance on the back. Atraq grumbled and pulled Nagaz away from Lance and back to the control panel. "I think they like you." Ottokar smiled and brought Lance over to the two Unilu that were playing some kind of logic game. "These two are Nuk and Duner. Nuk is the lighter one. And despite their similar looks they aren't related by blood." Ottokar said. The two Unilu looked up simultaneously and nodded. They were both reddish in color, one having brown undertones while the other had orange.

"Pleasure, we're sure." They said at the same time.

"They're both just a little shorter than I, but usually stand with a small slouch." Ottokar said and continued leading Lance around the room.

"You suppose he eats that nasty goo Ottokar said Altean's eat?" One of the Unilu asked.

"Bet he hasn't had a decent meal since he became a paladin."

"You suppose that's why he's so skinny?"

"Naw, that's why he's so thin." The Unilu laughed slightly at the joke.

"Don't mind them, they're harmless." Ottokar said putting a hand on Lance's shoulder. "This is Wikchic." Ottokar said as they came to a nest like thing of wires and pieces of tech. Lance raised a brow as he looked over the mess. A small Olkari head popped out of the mess, large glasses resting on their nose.

"I swear I had another fuse, honest. If I could get ahold of one I could make another shift disk." The Olkari said as they crawled out of the wires. Lance looked down a bit and had to bite back a small smile. This Olkari seemed very Pidge like to him, that and he only stood about 5'0" tall. His coloring was a shade of faded green, like a leaf almost.

"Shift disk? What's that?" Lance asked and Wikchic's eyes grew wide with excitement as a wide grin broke out on his face.

"It's a disk that simulates the Altean chameleon ability. Or something similar to that. It can't physically change your appearance, but it puts a fake appearance over your natural one making it look like you can shift." Wikchic explained. Ottokar smirked as he folded his arms over his chest.

"How exactly does that work?" Lance asked and if possible Wikchic's smile only grew.

"Let me show you. Hey Skurr, paladin wants to know how the disk works. I've got a mermaid one if you want to try it?" Wikchic all but shouted. One of the Balmearans turned from what they were doing and headed over.

"This won't end up like your Unilu one will it?" The Balmearan asked as he looked down at the Olkari. This Balmearan stood at a height of 6'3", the middle one of the siblings. A light brown in color, like a faded tan.

"This is Skurr." Ottokar said quietly as they watched the interaction.

"No, or at least it shouldn't. Just hold still." Wikchic said as he grabbed a circular disk and put it on Skurr's back. The false appearance appeared almost instantly making Skurr look like a thinner merman that was standing on his tail.

"That's kinda cool." Lance said as he pointed to Skurr. The two other Balmearans walked over and looked over Skurr's new appearance.

"Only downside is that it doesn't work on Unilu or Altean. We tried." Wikchic said as he looked over the work of his tech. "Wonder if it'd work on your kind." He mumbled to himself not paying much attention to Lance.

"Wikchic here designs and makes most of our weaponry and other gadgets." Ottokar said then turned Lance over to the other two Balmearans. "These two are Wol and Cinn." They each nodded when their name was said. Wol was the tallest of the three at about 6'9" where as Cinn stood at 6'0". "Cinn here is the baby of the crew." Ottokar said pulling Cinn into a side hug. Cinn pouted and shoved at Ottokar. Wol matched his brother Skurr in color, but Cinn was a really pale green.

"So this is your crew." Lance said looking around the room.

"Yes. We are brothers." Ottokar said looking his crew over with pride. "Planet or ship this time? Nagaz, I believe it's your turn to choose." Ottokar said. Lance looked to him in confusion.

"Let's take a ship. Get the paladin's feet wet." Nagaz said flicking his ears up as he stood tall. Lance looked from Nagaz to Ottokar in confusion.

"What say you Lance? Want to see us in action?" Zovess asked from his panel where he was looking at information. Lance was still confused.

"What do you mean? You want me to fight alongside you?" Lance asked and Ottokar laughed slightly.

"Nonsense Lance. You would only watch. We'd take the ship and keep you out of harm's way." Ottokar said and looked to Zovess. "Where's the closest ship?"

"Maybe two or three Quintant's out. We'd have enough time to plan a course of action." Zovess said looking to Ottokar.

"Limping Leo or Prisoner exchange. I think those are our best options." Ottokar said and looked to Lance. "Want to see what people can accomplish when they believe in their own power?" Lance nodded, not really sure if he was up for the task or not.

~~~

"It's already been almost a day and we still have no leads on Lance." Keith fumed as he paced near his chair. They were all on edge, not knowing where Lance was taken and the fact they couldn't form Voltron weighed heavy on their minds.

"Perhaps we should ask the Blade if they could lend a hand." Allura said. She seemed to be taking this the worst. Coran on the other hand had been silent the whole time since the space mall.

"Like they'd help, they'd probably tell us it's our problem and we need to fix it ourselves." Pidge grumbled from her seat as she scanned over the security footage from the mall to see if she could find where they took Lance. It grew quiet, the only sound coming from Pidge's computer screen as she scanned away.

"Ottokar." Coran finally said, in a chilling voice. The others looked at him confused. "That's who he reminded me of." He looked up at Allura. "He was the top prison guard before Altea fell."

"No way." Pidge said as she paused the footage. The others looked to he, her eyes wide as she zoomed in on Ottokar. She rewound it a bit and played it slow for the others. It captured the shift Otto made in order to talk to the Unilu.

"That's the Unilu I saw." Hunk said as he looked at the screen.

"He's an Altean?" Allura asked slightly horrified that one of her own kind could do this.

"If it is Ottokar, he'd be well over 10,000 by now." Coran said as he leaned in closer to look at the screen as well.

"Well, you guys are still here. And Zarkon has been around for this long too, maybe whatever happened to Zarkon happened to Otto." Pidge suggested.

"Ottokar wasn't on Dibazall when the exposure infected Zarkon." Coran said and thought more on it. "Actually, he was one of the first captured when Zarkon started his rule of tyranny." Coran went quiet as he stared at the paused frame with Ottokar in his normal form. "We thought him to be dead."

"So why would he want Lance?" Hunk asked, both Coran and Allura shared a dark look.

"He must be working for Zarkon, that would be the only reason he would do such a thing." Allura said coldly and motioned to Pidge. "Find out what ship he took, see if we can track it from there." She said and left the room with Coran following behind. Shiro who had been quietly sitting in his chair with an ice pack on his head looked over.

"He said he'd give him back when he got bored of him." Shiro said quietly, feeling a mix of guilt and anger. "We have to get him back before that happens."


	3. Chapter 3

"So, you are wanting my help with this 'prisoner exchange' plan of yours?" Lance asked as he looked over the crew on Ottokar's ship. Nagaz nodded and ruffled Lance's hair.

"You and I will pose as paladins, since Zarkon has it out for the black paladin. Or rather the black lion. It may look a little suspicious with only the black so having you help would make it more believable." Ottokar said and the Balmarans walked over.

"You'll stay shipside while everyone except Wikchic boards the other ship." Skurr said as Wikchic handed him a shift disk. Skurr put the disk on his back and turned it on, having the appearance look like an almost exact copy of Lance in his paladin armor. Cinn patted Skurr's shoulder and looked to Lance.

"Besides, we can't have you getting hurt while we still have you under our care." Cinn said taking another disk from Wikchic and putting it on his back. The appearance made him look like Galra similar to that of Zovess.

"So why am I needed?" Lance asked as he looked over the two Balmarans in false appearances.

"We need you for when we call the other ship. The disk's only work for a short period of time. Same with Ottokar's shifting abilities." Wikchic said and gave Wol the other disk. "This should be fun." Wikchic said with a grin.

"Ready on deck." Zovess said alerting everyone to get to their spots. "Just a few ticks until we're able to hail them." Ottokar nodded and pulled Lance over to the middle of the room. Skurr changed the setting on his disk and appeared as a Galra soldier. Wol also put his disk on his back and had his appearance looking like a Galra too. The two Unilu's left the deck with Wikchic following close behind. Ottokar took a deep breath and slowly shifted into an almost identical copy of Shiro.

"Kneel down, we'll both be wearing cuffs to make it look more believable." Ottokar said to Lance as he knelt down. Atraq walked over with two cuffs. Ottokar put his hands behind his back. "Just follow my lead." Ottokar said quietly as Lance followed Ottokar's actions, kneeling down and putting his hands behind his back for Atraq to cuff. The cuffs were loose and didn't really do much except make it appear they couldn't get out.

"This is Galra cruiser 1145982. We have apprehended two paladins of Voltron and request a transfer to the closest ship, do you copy?" Zovess said into a video call to the other ship. The other ship answered and soon appeared on the screen.

"This is Galra cruiser 8779241, request accepted. Which paladins are you transferring?" The Galra captain of the other ship asked as he put in some info into his computer.

"The black and the blue paladins." Zovess said taking a step to the side so that Lance and Ottokar shifted into Shiro could be seen.

"Zarkon will be most pleased at this news. Have you their lions?" The Galra asked as the ship got close enough for boarding.

"Unfortunately not. Their lions are still on that castle ship, but without the two paladins Voltron can not be formed." Zovess said calmly. The other Galra hummed.

"In two doboshes we shall board your ship." The Galra said and shut off the camera. Ottokar groaned slightly and shifted back into his normal form.

"Are you alright?" Lance asked as he looked over Ottokar with a concerned look.

"Just fine." Ottokar groaned out as Atraq took the cuffs off. "We need to get you hidden with Wikchic." Ottokar said getting up to his feet. Wikchic and the Unilu's walked into the control area while the Balmearan's took off their shift disks.

"To the vents?" Wikchic asked perking up a bit while the two Unilu's went to the computer panels.

"Yes, keep him out of sight." Ottokar said as Wikchic led Lance to a panel in the floor. "Wol, Skurr, Cinn, you three are to follow me onto the other ship. Zovess, Nagaz, Atraq, you are to stay onboard. None of the sentries are to leave that ship." Ottokar said then looked to Zovess. "How many Galra?" Ottokar asked.

"Eight Galra and twelve in the cells." Zovess said.

"Guess we got ourselves a transfer ship." Ottokar said with a smirk. "We'll get them off and hopefully have another ship in our flock." The others made noises of agreement. Wikchic opened the panel and pulled Lance down into the vent. "Let's get this party started."

The other Galra ship had no idea what was coming. As soon as the doors opened all hell broke loose. Ottokar, along with his Balmearan crew members, stormed the ship taking out all the sentries they came across and corralling the Galra to the command center. With a sigh of relief Ottokar looked to the captain of the ship with a smirk.

"Let's talk somewhere a little more private, shall we?" Ottokar asked pulling the Galra up and out of the room, leaving the others alone.

Two vargas passed until Ottokar brought back the captain of the ship.

"Who should I talk to next?" Ottokar asked licking the corner of his mouth. The captain hummed and looked to his crew.

"None sir. I think I can change their minds myself." The captain said confusing his crew.

"And the prisoners?" Ottokar asked.

"Yes, you can take them. Just don't be gone for too long." The captain said off handedly.

"Good. Now be a good boy and follow my orders." Ottokar said quietly as he leaned in closer to the captain. "I'll call on you when I need your help." Ottokar made a purr like noise and nuzzled his nose against the captains cheek.

"Yes sir." The captain said heading towards his crew members. Wol, Skurr, and Cinn walked over to Ottokar before they all headed down to the cells where the prisoners were kept.

"You sure have a way of convincing others to join our cause." Wol said with a knowing smirk.

"Not necessarily. You just have to know their kinks." Ottokar said as he led them to the cells. The brothers laughed and they opened the cell doors, revealing the many faces of scared aliens. "Come with us and we'll get you back home." The prisoners looked a mix of shock and happiness as they all started getting up and following the Balmearan brothers back to their ship.

"Today has been a good day." Cinn stated as he clapped Ottokar on his back. "Do you really think the captain will stay in the fold?" Cinn seemed worried that these particular Galra won't stay with them.

"I think it'll be okay. And besides, if they don't stay in the flock then we can always blow up the ship." Ottokar said with a small smile. As soon as they were all back on their ships Ottokar made sure the doors were sealed before the two ships detached.

"Captain to the bridge." Zovess said through the comms. Ottokar let out a small sigh and headed up to the bridge.

"Any issues?" Ottokar asked as he walked over to the panel Zovess was at.

"Apparently that one ship wasn't the only one who caught our message." Zovess said looking over the screen.

"Another Galra ship?" Ottokar asked.

"I don't think so. The signature doesn't read as Galra." Zovess pulled the information up and Ottokar smirked slightly.

"Altean. Seems our princess has a little genius onboard. Have they triangulated our position?"

"That's a negative. But I wouldn't doubt that they'll get closer the more active we are in the field." Ottokar nodded.

"It won't be long before be hand him back, lets just keep an eye on them for the moment." Ottokar said patting Zovess on the shoulder.

"Yes sir."

"Wikchic, you still got Lance?" Ottokar said as he tapped the floor with his foot. The panel where the two hid opened and Wikchic popped his head out.

"Yep. He's right here." Lance stood up revealing that Wikchic was sitting on his shoulders.

"We have a few stops to make before we can go about bring more ships to our flock."

"You got the prisoners?" Wikchic asked with a grin.

"Yep. We're taking them home." Ottokar looked to Nagaz and smiled slightly. "Set course for Olkarion. We have a few Olkari that want to go home." Lance looked confused.

"Olkarion?" Lance asked as Ottokar started to walk out of the control room to where the Balmaran's led the freed captives.

"A few of the prisoners were Olkari, some Taujeerians, couple Puigans, and one human." Lance immediately started running to catch up with Ottokar's long stride.

"Human? There was a human on that ship?" Lance tried pulling at Ottokar's arm to stop him. "Who was it?" Ottokar looked confused as he stopped causing Lance to run into his arm.

"How would I know who this human is?" Ottokar asked. "An older male of your species I'm assuming based on external and comparative scans." Ottokar walked over to the wall and put his hand on it, pulling up a screen. "Facial recognition won't bring up much but this ship is still hooked up into the Galra fleet." The screen sorted through a bunch of footage faster than Lance could comprehend. "Here. It says he was captured along with two others." The screen paused on an image of three humans kneeling in their uniforms that looked similar to the others, where Galra were standing behind them. "The other two were reported missing after a year." Lance gasped and pulled on Ottokar's arm again.

"That must be the Kerberos mission crew. It had Matt, Shiro, and Matt's dad. Is it Matt's dad?" Lance asked and Ottokar huffed pulling his hand away from the screen.

"I am unaware who this Matt is. If it is who you think it is you may ask him when we get to the infirmary. That's where we take all our rescuees." Ottokar said and continued walking. Lance followed behind quietly. The doors opened and a few of the Taujeerians jumped looking to the door. "Greetings. I'm the captain on this ship and I'm here to tell you I'm taking you all home. Our first stop is Olkarion, then we'll stop at Taujeer. Last we'll stop at Puig." He turned to the human and frowned slightly. "Unfortunately I can't drop you off at your planet, as it is not in our systems. Even if it was I doubt my ship would be appreciated by your culture." He then let out a long sigh and looked to the others. "We will have to take a shuttle to get you planetside, as the ship you currently on is a Galra cruiser."

"May I ask a interrupt?" Lance interrupted. Ottokar sent him a side glance and huffed slightly. "I am a paladin of Voltron. You have my word that you will get to your homes safely." Lance said causing Ottokar to pinch the bridge of his nose with a sigh.

"Now that that's over with. My crew members in this room will show you to where you will be staying. Know this though, there are three Galra and two Unilu on my crew. Leave them be and they'll leave you alone. They aren't like the other members of their species. You'll get three meals a day and wandering privileges, just stay out of the crew quarters, the command deck, and the launch bay unless specified by either myself or Zovess my second in command. Is this understood?" Ottokar asked and most of them nodded. "Any questions?" One of the Taujeerians raised a hand.

"Who is Zovess?" He asked and the door to the infirmary opened revealing Zovess.

"Perfect timing. This is Zovess. He may be Galra but he is not like the ones who took you from your homes." Ottokar said as he noticed they had a look of fear on their faces. "Perhaps you'd all like to rest now. I'll leave you to Wol, Skurr, and Cinn. Dinner is in three Vargas." Ottokar went to leave with Zovess when Lance followed after.

"Wait, can I stay with them?" Ottokar looked back, turning his attention between Lance and the other human.

"Very well. Skurr will show you where the dining area is." Ottokar left the room with Zovess to chart a course to Olkarion than the other two stops.

Lance walked back over to where the, older than him, man that was sitting on an examination table looking forlorn.

"Are you alright sir?" Lance asked as he put a hand on his shoulder.

"I-I believe so." The man said looking up at Lance. "Y-you're human too?" He looked genuinely surprised.

"Yeah. I'm human too." Lance said with a small smile.

"Have you found others? Two boys? One would be about six feet tall dark hair, the other would be a little shorter with brown hair." The man started to start talking faster and he got up off the table, putting his hands on Lance's shoulders.

"Yeah, Shiro came back to earth. We formed voltron and now defend the universe." The man looked confused. "I'm Lance."

"Samuel. Samuel Holt. What of the other boy, have you found my son?" If possible the man looked even more distressed than he did when they brought him here.

"I'm not sure, but Pidge is hell bent on finding him."

"Pidge? Katie's out here too?" Sam asked looking a bit pale.

"Yeah, she's a paladin like me and Shiro. If anyone's gonna find him she's gonna be the one." Lance said patting Sam's shoulder. Sam looked conflicted, somewhere between relief and fear.

~~~

"So according to this feed we got Lance is on a Galra cruiser." Pidge said as she rewound the audio so she could listen to it again.

"So Ottokar is piloting a Galra cruiser?" Allura asked.

"But something doesn't make sense to me." Shiro started looking back to Pidge. "They said they had the Blue and the Black paladin. Clearly I'm still here so how would they have both?" Shiro asked as Pidge played the feed again.

"That's true, so maybe this ship doesn't have Lance in the first place." Pidge said looking up to Shiro.

"Why would they say they have two paladins when they don't? What would they have to gain by that?" Keith asked trying not to explode at the fact that Lance was still missing.

"Maybe Ottokar isn't actually working for Zarkon and he like jedi mind tricked the other ship?" Hunk suggested earning an eye roll from Pidge. "Well what was the other ship doing? Was it a patrol ship, or like some kind of transport?" Hunk asked trying to change the topic.

"I could look that up." Pidge said as she typed things away. "Galra cruiser 8779241, that is a prisoner transport ship." Pidge said tapping her glasses. "I'll look up the other one." She mumbled and typed away again on her computer. "Cruiser 1145982, is supposedly destroyed. Five years ago it was in a battle near the command center." Pidge said somewhat shocked as she read over the info.

"Supposedly destroyed? So either it's not the right number or the ship wasn't destroyed." Keith fumed as he walked over to read the info himself.

"There's other feeds using the same number." Pidge said pulling up a different feed.

/"This is Galra cruiser 1145982. We're experiencing some trouble, requesting help from the nearest ship available."/

The feed sounded fuzzy as if they were having trouble with communications.

/"This is Galra cruiser 3338729, we're on course to your position. Were you attacked?"

"Affirmative, some of the resistance fighters jumped our ship. They left the moment they thought our ship was useless."/

Pidge paused it and typed in the number of the other ship.

"Turns out the cruiser they came in contact with went off the grid about a year ago." Pidge said and looked through the other feeds she found.

/"This is Galra cruiser 1145982. We have apprehended fugitive prisoner 000-0011. Requesting transfer."

"This is Galra cruiser 5119834, where did you apprehend the fugitive?"

"The fugitive was found attempting to commandeer a small shuttle from a space mall. We were informed by the owner that he was there."

"Understood. We are to be heading back to central command within the varga, prisoner transport accepted."/

"That's a low number for a prisoner." Hunk commented tapping the tips of his fingers together. "Don't you think?"

"That's Ottokar's number." Coran said in a monotonous tone.

"How do you know?" Pidge asked as she typed in the number trying to see if she could find a picture to go with the number.

"He and his crew were some of the first captured by Zarkon's army when he started his uprise." Coran said as he looked to the screen just as an older picture of Ottokar popped up. The picture looked awful, Ottokar was glaring at the camera with one eye while the other was shut tight with a bit of blood coming from the seal. There was also fresh blood from the gouged spot just under the eye. His lip was split and the lighter colored clothes he wore were dusty and had dried blood splattered over it.

"What happened to him?" Pidge asked quietly as she stared at the image in shock.

"They took his eye." Allura said quietly as she brought a hand to her mouth. Pidge opened the file that his number had.

"That's not all they took." Pidge said quietly scrolling through all the info there. "Apparently they did quintessence experiments. They took his arms and legs, replacing them with bionics. They also put some kind of computer pieces in his head connecting to his eye." Pidge said as she skimmed some of the newer info on the file. "Apparently he broke out five years before Shiro was caught. Also around the time that cruiser went missing."

"So he could be piloting that cruiser, but why would he be giving himself up to the Galra?" Shiro asked and Pidge typed in the number of the other Galra cruiser.

"The other cruiser went off grid about four years ago, just after the transmission." Pidge said and looked to the others. "You think he's trying to destroy the ships one at a time?"

"He kidnapped Lance! are we completely going to ignore that fact?" Keith asked trying to calm down by folding his arms.

"We're still looking. We have the cruiser number if another feed like that comes through we'll find it." Shiro said putting a hand on Keith's shoulder. "We'll find him, there's no doubt about that."

"Yes and in the meantime the universe still needs Voltron, or at least what we still have. So you may all each be getting your own missions here soon." Allura said finally composing herself after the shock of knowing what happened to Ottokar.


	4. Chapter four

"So my Katie, she's doing well?" Sam asked Lance as the two sat at the long table to eat their dinner.

"She's a genius. She built her own radio thing to find where you went." Lance said with a smile. Skurr brought out some plates with food and set them on the table in front of the two.

"Food. Wol made it so it should be good. We don't know the palate a human can take." Skurr said then put other plates on the table for the others. Lance looked at the plate with a raised brow. It looked like salad, except the leaves were blue and there was an oil based dressing over the top. There were smaller like vegetable looking things, but they were all the wrong color as well. Cinn walked out holding silverware and handed everyone at the table a set. Zovess, Nagaz, and Atraq entered the dining area drawing a silence over the room like a thick blanket. Ottokar walked into the room followed by Wikchic.

"Everyone eats at the same time. My Galra crew members are no acception." Ottokar said and he took his seat at the head of the table. His Galra crew sitting in the unoccupied seats on the right side of the table, closest to Ottokar.

"Your crew has an Olkari." One of the rescued Olkari said as they looked to Wikchic.

"Yes, Wikchic joined my crew after we rescued him, much like yourselves. He decided to stay and update some of the technology as his way of thanks." Ottokar said as the three Balmearans left the kitchen bringing plates of food for the few that didn't have any.

"Food's served." Wol said as he took his seat next to his brothers.

"Light's out in four Vargas. The training deck is open if you'd like to wander there for whatever reason. We reach Olkarion in two Quintants. Breakfast is whenever Wol is awake." Ottokar said finally before going quiet to eat his food, that didn't look anything like the food goo Lance was used to seeing.

"So you don't eat the same food goo that Coran made us eat?" Lance asked as he looked to Ottokar's plate, trying to figure out what he was eating.

"You need to understand, the entire time I was with the Gara as their plaything, they never once gave me food I was used to. I doubt I'd be able to stomach it now." Ottokar said after he swallowed the food he was eating. Lance quieted down after that. Clearly this is a touchy subject for Ottokar. Lance looked around the crew members and tried to figure out which person would be the best to ask about Ottokar. He decided Zovess would be the best to ask since he was second in command, but anyone else would be a toss up. Lance noticed that Ottokar ate the slowest and he kept an eye on the other people sitting at the table. As Lance ate his salad he also took note that the members of Ottokar's crew also ate slowly, maybe it's a prisoner thing? Lance wondered. Dinner was otherwise quiet aside from the clinking of silverware and plates. The ones they rescued were the first to finish and looked awkwardly towards Ottokar. "You may leave the table if you would like. Leave the dishes, we'll take care of them." Ottokar said as he waved his arm to the door. "Try and rest, it's been a long Quintant for the lot of you I'm sure." They all got up leaving Ottokar and his crew, Lance, and Sam sitting at the table. Sam finished his food and stared at his empty plate for a while. Ottokar looked his way, but didn't say anything on it as he continued to eat at his slow pace.

"Where did you find Lance?" Sam asked as he glanced up at Ottokar. Ottokar set down his fork while his crew members paused their eating to glance carefully between the two.

"We brought him on board just after a stop at the space mall." Ottokar said calmly and Lance raised a brow.

"And my Katie? Was she there too?" Sam asked with a worried look.

"I don't believe so. But it is possible that she was there and I just didn't see her." Lance only looked more confused. He remembered that Pidge pulled him down so she could look at his eye. "Believe me when I say that I will get you to where you are needed." Ottokar said cryptically. He stood from his seat and Zovess stood also.

"Thank you." Sam said standing, taking a small bow before leaving the room.

"Why did you lie to him?" Lance asked slightly angered.

"If I had told him the truth, how would he have taken it? If he knew it was his daughter that I could have taken instead of you? What sort of heroic monster would that make me?" Ottokar asked heading to Lance. "Nuk, Duner. Be sure and clean up the dishes. Lance, I believe you need to keep up with your training." Ottokar said pulling Lance up by the sleeve.

"You think he'll make it through one of captains training sessions?" Lance heard Nagaz ask with a hint of worry in his tone.

"I guess we'll see if he's in the infirmary tomorrow." Atraq said. Lance could only worry about what is going to happen when they get to the training room.

"Don't go for the knee." Lance heard Wikchic say just before the doors shut. Lance was practically dragged all the way to the training room by Ottokar who didn't say anything the entire time. As soon as they were in the large training room Ottokar let go of Lance's arm in favor of going to the wall where several staffs lined it with some other weapons.

"Your training here will be more vigorous than on that castle ship you've been training on." He picked up two bo staffs and tossed one to Lance. "I am not like the gladiators you're used to fighting against." Ottokar readied his stance and leveled Lance with a gaze. "Hit me if you can." Lance only stared dumbly at the staff in his hands then at Ottokar.

"You want me to hit you?" Lance asked only for Ottokar to take a swing at him that he was barely able to dodge.

"You're leaving yourself wide open." Ottokar made another swing and Lance blocked it with the staff. "If this were a fight with an enemy, you would have already fallen, now hit me." Ottokar tried getting Lance to make a move. Lance tried taking a swing at Ottokar. Ottokar dodged and swiped Lances feet out from under him. "Open." Ottokar went to swing at Lance again.

"Hey, I'm not even up yet." Lance protested but Ottokar only brought his staff to Lance's leg.

"The Galra won't wait for you to get back on your feet before attacking. You keep leaving yourself wide open and you are slow when attacking." Ottokar made another attack that Lance blocked. "You have to get better at that." Ottokar stepped back and let Lance get to his feet. It took Lance a moment before he decided to take a swing at Ottokar. Ottokar blocked the hit but otherwise didn't move. Lance swung again being blocked the same way.

"Why are you training me?" Lance asked as he took a step back.

"If you can't find a way to defeat me what hope do you have for defeating the Galra?" Ottokar said cryptically.

Training went on for another few Vargas, and Lance was tired before Ottokar called it quits. The two of them headed back to Ottokar's room and he pulled out some clothes so they could change. Ottokar left the room with his change of clothes in hand. Lance looked at the clothes he was handed, a shirt and pants. They looked comfortable enough but Lance didn't want to change at the moment, instead he decided to walk out into the hall to see if he could find Zovess. It took quite a bit of wandering before Lance finally found the Galra he was looking for.

"Can I help you Lance?" Zovess asked as he continued his walk to the control room.

"I was wondering if I could ask some questions about Ottokar." Lance said carefully, watching as Zovess' ears twitched back a bit.

"I can answer some, but you will have to ask Ottokar of any personal questions." Zovess said after a moment of thinking. Zovess walked into the control room and went over to his station to monitor their course. Nagaz and Atraq were also in the control room. "Were you going to ask?" Zovess asked as he typed away on the screen. Lance looked over to the other two Galra who were watching him carefully.

"I was going to ask about his time with the Galra." Lance said as he walked closer to Zovess. The three Galra in the room paused what they were doing and looked away from Lance.

"I can only reveal the smallest details. This is something you will have to ask him for clarification." Zovess said and Lance nodded. "He and his crew were captured around four Phoebs before the destruction of Altea, his wife and daughter were on the ship as well. According to files he is the only member that lived. He was the main subject of the druids experiments, bionics and quintessence being the main two. After they 'perfected' him they put him in the arena as one of the first gladiators. He was kept in a mix of the two things until he broke out five deca-phoebs ago." Zovess really didn't reveal much but it at least helped a bit for Lance.

"So that picture he has in his room, are the others in the picture some of his crew?"

"His crew is a personal question. Best ask Captain when he's had a few too many." Atraq said as he turned towards a control panel. He typed in a few things and pulled up an older image of Ottokar. He had the scar over his lips but both his eye markings. "This is one of the few images we could find of him smiling." Nagaz put his large hand on Atraq's shoulder.

"The captain is just about as broken as the rest of us. Just be careful what you ask him." Nagaz said, his ears falling slightly.

"Why was he captured in the first place?" Lance asked looking back to Zovess, who was shocked that that was the question asked.

"Ottokar used to be the prison keep on Altea. He was captured for his knowledge on the castle and on King Alfor. Four phoebs of torture before he finally broke." Zovess said looking down. "None of us were there, but it was tragic to hear all the same. To think our kind could be so cruel when we want something." Nagaz looked over to Lance before taking a step in his direction.

"Where did the captain go when you finished training?" He asked and Lance thought for a bit. He looked to the floor before trying to answer.

"I think he went to the bathroom or something. He left his room with some clothes." Lance looked back up slightly shocked that Nagaz was much closer than he was before, he hadn't heard a footstep. Lance looked down to see that Nagaz wore no shoes and his feet were like that of a cats. He stood on what would be the ball of his foot with his heel much higher off the ground.

"That's good to hear. Better the showers than the training room again. Last time he injured himself so bad he was in a healing pod for three quintants." Nagaz said patting Lance on the head.

"Is there anything else you can tell me about Ottokar?" Lance asked trying to fix his hair. The others thought on it a bit.

"Even though what's left is mostly scarred, he takes good care of his skin." Nagaz said and Atraq climbed up to his shoulder.

"Yeah, it's really soft." Atraq said sitting carefully on Nagaz's shoulder.

"Sometimes he'll get night terrors." Zovess commented, taking a side glance at the group. "They happen less often then before, but he'll wander to the training room after he has one." Nagaz nodded in agreement.

"He dances with holograms." Atraq commented with a small smile. "His wife and daughter." His smile fell at this.

"And don't let him cook. No matter what you do he is not allowed in the kitchen." Zovess said in all seriousness. Lance raised a brow at this.

"Did something happen the last time he was in the kitchen?" Lance asked curious as to what happened.

"Let's just say the last time he was in the kitchen we almost lost that part of the ship." Atraq said with a shudder. "That wasn't a fun quintant."

"He's pretty good at targeting and strategy. I don't think I've met anyone as good a shot as him." Nagaz said with his ears flapping a bit.

"He also cares for his crew, and even though the ship is a Galra ship he treats it like home." Zovess said returning to his work on whatever it is that was on his console.

"So he's really not a bad guy, he's just got some bad ideas." Lance said as he looked to Zovess. Nagaz ruffled Lance's hair again.

"His ideas have kept us all alive for this long. He's shown us that he's willing to sacrifice himself before any of us get hurt." Nagaz looked to Atraq with a sad look.

"Nagaz and I aren't exactly accepted by the others since we're not the right size. The others on the crew stayed after we rescued them. The Balmearan brothers stayed after their Balmera was destroyed by overharvesting. Wikchic stayed after we freed him from a Galra prison. And the Unilu's joined our crew when we stopped a scuffle they were involved in. Ottokar took us all in when we needed a place." Atraq said and hopped off Nagaz's shoulder.

"We should get you back to the room." Nagaz said putting a hand on Lance's shoulder.

"I hope this was able to answer some things. But like I said if you have any personal questions, you'll have to ask Ottokar himself." Zovess said as Nagaz led Lance out of the room. Lance nodded as he followed.

"Wait. When do you think I can get back to the castle?" Lance asked looking back to Zovess.

"That is uncertain. Ottokar still hasn't disclosed his entire plan to us. But it may be awhile before you can go back." Zovess said just as the doors shut. Lance let out a sigh, slightly frustrated that he was the only one captive on this entire ship.

~~~

"Anything?" Keith asked impatiently as he paced behind the chair Pidge sat in.

"Like the last time, no. Nothing has come up yet." Pidge grumbled. A hailing came from another ship and Allura answered it.

"Kolivan. Thank you for responding." Allura greeted.

"You said you needed help with something Voltron related. What happened?" Kolivan asked.

"One of the paladins has been kidnapped by an Altean accompanied by a Galra. We were wondering if you could assist in the rescue or possibly provide information if you have any." Allura said before Keith could utter a word.

"Altean?" Kolivan looked shocked. "He's still out there?" He sounded angry now.

"I take it you've run into him before." Keith said surprisingly calm.

"That's an understatement." Kolivan grumbled.

"What happened, if I may ask." Allura voiced and Kolivan sighed.

"That Altean took one of the best blades I had with him when he escaped captivity. I've been trying to find him since, but to no avail. Everytime I get close he's just gone. Even some of the undercover blades I have stationed on cruisers have fallen under whatever spell he put on them. Five blades, six if I count the recent ship that went off grid." Kolivan sounded irritated, but they couldn't really blame him when he's lost good soldiers.

"The blade he took, what was his name?" Keith asked out of curiosity. Kolivan looked to Keith over the monitor with a raised brow.

"Zovess."Kolivan said slowly as he glanced to the side. The others stood quietly for a moment before Keith started talking again.

"The mute Galra? He's a blade?" Keith asked a little loudly. Kolivan raised a brow.

"Zovess isn't mute." He said quietly.

"When we ran into the Altean and Zovess, Otto said he was mute." Pidge said looking up at the screen.

"Yeah, and he also said he was a fan of Voltron and a bit shy." Hunk added.

"Zovess is a skilled soldier, even without being a blade." Kolivan said with a sigh. It was quiet for a bit before Kolivan continued. "I will assist in any way I can. You have my word." He ended the transmission.

"So Zovess was a blade?" Shiro asked.

"Apparently. So that means that Ottokar just got a whole lot more dangerous." Allura said and looked to Pidge. "Keep an eye out for Lance, our mission just got more dire."


	5. Chapter 5

Lance woke with a start, caused by the shout that escaped Ottokar's mouth. Lance stared at him in silence, watching as Ottokar shot up from his cot holding his right eye. Lance had been given the bed but had to stay in Ottokar's room. Ottokar stumbled off the cot and made his way to the door with as much grace a drunk man had. Lance quickly scrambled to his feet and followed Ottokar out of the room. Ottokar kept his hand over his eye as his other one guided him along the wall. Lance kept quiet, not sure how his voice would affect the shaken captain. Lance followed him all the way to the training deck. Lance hovered at the doorway and watched as holograms appeared. An Altean woman and a girl no older than four. They looked almost the exact same, aside their height difference. Beautiful long hair that has a bit of a wave to it and pink, it started light at the roots and darkens at the ends. Their Altean markings were like Allura's only orange in color. And their eyes, such a pretty shade of violet it reminded him of Keith's eye color.

"Another night terror, my darling?" The woman asked as she brought her hand to the left side of his face. He tilted his head to lean into the touch as if it were really there. Lance compared the height between the two and gathered that the woman was around 5'6"ish. The girl on the other hand was just barely at the three foot range.

"Unfortunately yes, my love." Ottokar said quietly bringing up his hand up to mirror her action. Lance watched quietly, his heart melting at how sweet it looked.

"Could you tell me what happened this time?" She asked tilting her head in the same fashion. A sigh left Ottokars mouth.

"They took my eye. I woke before it got worse." Lance raised a brow. How could it get worse then that?

"I'm sorry my darling. Want to stay here with me until the memory passes?" Ottokar nodded and crumbled to his knees. The woman knelt and leaned her head up to his, resting her forehead on his. "Just rest my darling, you're safe here." She hummed and ran her fingers through his hair. Lance was torn between staying put and going to comfort him. The girl sat and looked the two over with a sad look.

"It's okay papa." The girl said putting a hand on his arm. A hand found itself over Lance's mouth, freaking Lance out to no end. He jumped and attempted a shout, only it was greatly muffled.

"Shh. He shouldn't be interrupted when he's like this." Nagaz said quietly as he slowly removed his hand. Lance nodded and turned to nagaz.

"Who are they?" Lance asked in a whisper, leaning his head back but not taking his eyes off the scene in front of him.

"Thats his wife, Zisea, and his daughter, Ithil." Nagaz said moving to stand on the other side of the doorway. "They are what Captain remembers of them. Some kind of Altean technology." Nagaz folded his arms and leaned against the frame. Lance was quiet for a bit looking from Ottokar to Nagaz.

"His shout wake you?" Lance asked.

"The vents carry sounds. I would be surprised if anyone's still asleep." Nagaz said looking to Lance. "We're almost to Puig, you should get some rest while you can." Lance nodded and looked back over to Ottokar only to find that Ithil was staring right back at him. Lance noticed out of the corner of his eye that Nagaz crouched low to the floor. Ithil looked at her parents for a moment then got up and walked over to Nagaz.

"Hi kitty." She said with a big smile on her face. Lance had turned to see Nagaz fold his ears to cover his face before moving them out of the way.

"Hello little angel." She let out a cute giggle and looked to Lance.

"Are you helping Papa too?" She asked and Lance tilted his head in confusion.

"He's working with your papa. He's going to help get the guy that hurt you." Nagaz said quietly holding a hand out, palm up. Ithil put her hand in his and looked up with a sad hint in her eyes.

"Will he go away like the others?" At this Lance looked even more confused.

"Hopefully not this time. We'll keep him safe." She smiled a sad smile and looked up to Lance.

"He's got funny ears." She said with a small laugh. She covered her mouth with a hand and leaned into Nagaz. Lance gaped not expecting the dig on his anatomy.

"My ears are just fine the way they are." He said covering them with his hands.

"It's okay blue. We all are different." Nagaz said folding his ears in front of his face again.

"That's kinda cool though." Lance admitted. Nagaz moved one ear earning a small laugh from Ithil.

"Most children are entertained by it." He said moving his ears to stand normally. "My sister was when she was younger. She was so cute back then." Nagaz said fondly. Lance stood there surprised by the information.

"You have siblings?" He asked and Nagaz nodded slowly.

"A half sister. She was sweet when she was little. But some didn't accept her as a galra so she changed drastically. I haven't seen her for some time now, but I hear she became a general. I couldn't be more proud of her." Nagaz had a fondness to his tone that Lance almost melted at.

"You'll see her again, I'm sure." Lance said putting a hand on his shoulder. Nagaz smiled up at him and Ithil mirrored the motion.

"I'm not the only crew with a sibling." Nagaz said with a sad look. "Zovess and Atraq have siblings too. Both have older brothers." Lance thought this over and nodded.

"I'm gonna go sit with papa." Ithil interrupted and moved her hand from Nagaz's.

"What was it about this time do you know?" Nagaz asked as he moved his hand back.

"It was his eye." She said quietly taking a glance at Lance.

"Anything after?" Nagaz asked concerned. Ithil shook her head no.

"Just the eye." She looked back to her father then back to Nagaz. "Watch him for me okay?" She asked cutely waiting for a nod before leaving.

"She's a cute kid. It's a shame she passed so young." Nagaz got to his feet and looked to Lance. "We should leave them be. Captain's had a hard time this week." Nagaz said leading Lance away from the door so it could close.

"What happened after they took his eye? You seemed worried when you asked." Lance looked to Nagaz who's ears fell back.

"That is a personal question. But not one you should ask." Nagaz said before stopping his walk. He looked to Lance as if contemplating something. "Perhaps I could find his file and you could read what happened. But you mustn't share this with anyone." Nagaz said looking up and down the hall.

"Is it like a log the galra kept?" Lance asked and Nagaz nodded. Atraq appeared out of nowhere, scarring Lance for the second time that day.

"You can't let the captain know you've read it either." Atraq said looking sternly at Lance.

"No, I get it. I'll keep it hush hush." Lance said holding up his hands.

"Three Vargas to Puig." Atraq said heading to the command center. Nagaz followed and Lance trailed behind.

"So do you have toe beans?" Lance asked causing the two to stop and look at him.

"What?" They asked simultaneously, Atraq with his hand on the hilt of his blade and Nagaz with his ears perked in slight interest. Lance hummed not realizing he voiced the question.

"Toe beans, it's a human thing they call a cats toes." Lance explained rubbing the back of his neck in embarrassment.

"I guess? Part of my anatomy is very feline in design, so it would make sense that I have what you call toe beans." Nagaz said with his ears folding back a bit. An alarm sounded throughout the halls and the two Galra looked to the ceiling with a blank look. Nagaz went to the wall and pulled up security footage from around the ship. "Take him to the vents. There's an intruder on ship." Nagaz ordered and Atraq nodded pulling Lance to the middle of the hall. He pulled up on one of the floor panels and had Lance get in first before following after himself. Nagaz made sure the panel was flat before he went to where the cameras showed the intruder.

By the time he got there he noticed the intruder and Ottokar were in position to attack. Zovess arrived at around the same time, only from the other direction, drawing his gun and aiming it at the intruder. Nagaz also drew his gun and aimed it causing the intruder to look to him.

"Stand down." Nagaz said as the intruder backed into a wall with his blade drawn. A member of the marmora group.

"Calm Nagaz, he won't pitch a fuss." Ottokar said holding a hand out and looking calm only on the outside. His eye held a fire which could only mean bad news for the intruder.

"Afraid he'd get hurt, Champion?" The intruder asked spitting out the last word like poison. The color disappeared from Ottokars bionic eye as his body slacked some. The intruder went to attack, but zovess was quicker.

"Leave this ship. You do not belong here." Zovess said dryly. It only took a moment for Nagaz to realize who the intruder was.

"Neither do you." The intruder voiced in a sad tone, with a bit of stern mixed in.

"I won't say it again, brother." Zovess armed his weapon when the intruder didn't move.

"Come back with me. We can get you help."

"I've made my choice Kolivan. And so have you." Zovess was about to fire when Kolivan was teleported off the ship.

"Sorry that took so long. Had to find where his ship was before I could send him away." Wikchick said over the coms. "Is the captain alright?" Wikchick's worry could be heard over the comms, and the two in the hall looked to Ottokar who hadn't moved in the slightest.

"He's slipped. We'll see if we can get him back." Zovess answered. The two put their weapons away and slowly approached Ottokar.

"Ottokar?" Nagaz attempted. The last time he slipped like this he became violent at the term Captain. Ottokar didn't move, standing like his soul left him.

"We'll be reaching Puig in three vargas, will you be alright sir?" At Zovess' comment color started to appear in the bionic eye again. Ottokar drew in a ragged breath and fell to his knees.

"-Safe? A-Are the others safe?" Ottokar asked as he steadied himself against the floor.

"They're alright sir. We can check on them later if you'd like." Zovess suggested. Ottokar nodded and looked up again.

"And the paladin? Where is he?" Ottokar asked looking between the two.

"He's in the vents with Atraq. He's safe." Nagaz answered.

"Good." Ottokar pulled himself to his feet and looked down the hall. "Let's get to Puig without any further interruptions." The others nodded and the three headed to the command center.

~~~

"You engaged him against my advisement?" Allura asked in an angry tone. Coran put a hand on her shoulder to try and calm her.

"Yes, you have your reasons and I have mine for pursuing the Altean." Kolivan answered in the same tone, only a little more exhausted. He pinched the bridge of his nose and huffed a bit.

"And what about Lance? Was he there?" Keith asked before Allura could yell at him some more.

"No. I was unable to retrieve your paladin. But the ship is headed to Puig. They made stops at both Olkarion and Taujeer. They'll disappear within the quintant if we sit idle and try to plan." Kolivan answered.

"Why did they make stops there? Is there a reason for them to stop?" Pidge asked looking through recent info to see if the two planets called for help recently.

"I am unaware of any specific reason." Kolivan answered looking to Pidge.

"What was on the cruiser they came in contact with before making these stops?" Shiro asked walking over to behind Pidge's chair, subtly putting his hand near her shoulder.

"Let's see." She hummed before pulling up the info of the ship. "Says it's a transport ship." She said with a hum.

"Medicine or Prisoner?" Kolivan interrupted. Pidge clicked away a few times and gasped after finding what she wanted.

"Prisoner. Twelve were being transferred. Olkari, Taujeerians, Pugians and one human." She said rereading the last line over carefully. "He rescued them." She whispered relieved. She tried to look for more information but couldn't find any. "Allura, can we wormhole to Puig and intercept?" Pidge asked.

"That would be unwise at the moment." Kolivan said quickly. "His ship is remodeled and can take out any cruiser with the forward canon, not to mention he still has leverage if we were to attack." He looked down, remembering one of his first rescue attempts to save his younger brother. "As much as I don't want to, I can have some blades assist you if you choose to attack."

"Perhaps he'd be willing to talk?" Hunk suggested and Allura nodded.

"Alright, we'll wormhole to be in range for a hail. If things go south then you will all go to your lions and get lance out of there. That is our highest priority." Allura affirmed with a nod. "We will contact you if your help is needed." Kolivan nodded and cut the communication.

"We'll get him back. Don't worry." Shiro said as Keith walked by. Keith only gave a half hearted nod before heading back to his room.


	6. Part 6.

"Where's Lance?" Ottokar asked as he, Nagaz, and Zovess started walking to the control room.

"He's with Atraq, in the vents." Nagaz answered.

"Good." Ottokar said going over to a panel and opening it. "Atraq?" 

"Yes sir?" Atraq's voice sounded further down the vent.

"Get both humans to the cells. I want them safe." Ottokar said going to out the cover back on the vent.

"Cells? What do you mean? What's going on?" Lance asked starting to sound panicked.

"That's need to know information, hopefully it's nothing but I'd rather not take any chances." Ottokar closed the vent and turned to the two in the hall with him. "We still have an older model gladiator bot don't we?" To this both looked confused.

"I believe so, but why would we need one?" Zovess answered.

"Kolivan was here, I doubt the princess will be far behind. If things go south, as I'm sure they will, we'll need it." Ottokar looked between the two before finalizing the thoughts running through his head. "Nagaz, I'll need you to bring the bot to Wikchick. See if he can set it up with a shift disk with Lance's appearance. Put one of those Galra muzzles on it, the one that goes over the nose. And make sure it's cuffed, want to make it believable." Nagaz nodded and headed down the hall. "Zovess you'll be in charge of the ship while I make the drop at Puig. Do not answer any hails until I'm back in the command center. Is that understood?" Zovess nodded and turned to head to the command center, but Ottokar put a hand on his arm. "They start attacking my ship you have my permission to retaliate. Pull a stuntman if you have to, we can't lose our home." Zovess nodded and Ottokar went to where the Puigians were loading up into a shuttle with Skurr and Cinn helping where they could. "I'll take them planet side. I would like the two of you to help Zovess should he need it." Both Balmearans nodded and left the suttle bay. Ottokar boarded the ship and set up the controls. "We'll be landing on Puig within a few doboshes." Ottokar said and turned his seat to face the few passengers on board. "Any questions?" A girl, young by the looks of it raised her hand.

"Can you tell your crew that we thank them? For everything. If not for you we would have ended up in the mines again." She looked down shyly after she voiced her statement.

"Will do little one." Ottokar said with a small smile as he turned his seat back around.

"How many?" An older man asked as he stood up to stand near Ottokar.

"I had one." Ottokar said sadly looking back to the Puigian. "She was my angel. The Galra took that from me, and I'm doing what I can to make sure it doesn't happen to anyone else." Ottokar looked back at his controls and started flying the shuttle out of the bay.

"The Galra have taken much. It's good to know that some are trying to give back." The Puigian went back to his seat as a small smile made its way to Ottokar's lips.

"Let's get you home." The drop went as smooth as the last ones. The Puigians greeted the others with tear filled reunions and Ottokar had to reassure them that they could call on him if they needed any help with fortifying anything. He took his shuttle, that was not of Galra make, and headed back to his ship. To his surprise both the castle ship and Kolivan's ship were sitting idle in front of his cruiser. "Wonder what they're up to." He mumbled to himself as he piloted the ship to the dock. He opened a comm to the bridge. "Anything yet Zovess?" He pulled his hair back as he was walking, putting it up in a small bun like thing.

"Negative. I presume they're waiting for us to contact them." Zovess replied.

"Alright then, I'm almost there. The humans are in their cells?"

"Yes sir." Atraq answered. Ottokar stopped in front of the doors and looked over the gladiator bot, disc on its back ready to be turned on.

"Hopefully we don't have to resort to using you." Ottokar mumbled and entered the command center. He looked to his crew and they were all waiting for orders. It isn't very often they get an intruder and then have two ships confront them. "This should be entertaining. Open a channel." Nagaz nodded and pulled up a screen. When the other side opened it showed all the inhabitants of the castle ship and Kolivan standing next to Allura. "If it isn't the thorn in my side himself." Ottokar said as he fixed a glare on Kolivan.

"This isn't about my brother this time. we are here to talk about the paladin." Kolivan said earning a confused look from Allura.

"Ah, yes the blue paladin. Quite the find really."

"We want him back!" Keith shouted standing from his seat.

"I already told you when I'd give him back or did that message not get passed along?" Ottokar said looking to Shiro.

"When you get bored of him. I already informed them." Shiro averted his eyes to avoid looking at Ottokar.

"When you get bored of him? Like you got bored with my brother?" Kolivan asked. Zovess took a step forward to defend his captain, only Ottokar held up a hand.

"Your brother is free to leave whenever he so chooses." Ottokar said and Zovess went back to his panel. "I thought you wanted to discuss the fate of the blue paladin." At this the ones on the other end stiffened.

"Fate? You plan on killing Lance?" Coran asked slamming his hands down on his panel. "What happened to you Ottokar?" Ottokar's look darkened.

"Ten thousand years happened. And no I don't plan on killing him. He's more use to me alive than dead, but since you interrupted my plans he will be severely punished for your actions."

"How can you say that so easily? You used to care so much for those you were in charge of." Coran said fixing a glare on Ottokar.

"You have files on me. I know for a fact that Kolivan does. How about you read what they did during the first few Phoebs of my capture. Then you can tell me how warped I have become." Ottokar said walking back to his seat and sitting down.

"Putting that aside where is Lance? Is he alright?" Allura asked trying to change the topic.

"Your paladin is being taken care of. He's been getting meals, has a bed and I've even been helping him improve with his training." Ottokar said lounging back a little in his chair. It was quiet for a bit and the only one to fidget was the green paladin. "Would you like to know the condition of the other human as well, little one?" Ottokar asked, keeping his eye trained on her movements. She nodded hesitantly which prompted Shiro to put a hand on her shoulder. "He's being taken care of as well. When me and my crew retrieved him along with the other prisoners they were all malnourished. He's starting to look less like a skeleton." At this she slumped her shoulders in relief.

"Who is it? The name, please?" She asked looking to Ottokar with a worried glance.

"You must be Katie then. He talks of you often. His name is Samuel, Samuel Holt." At this her eyes started to water. "Back to the paladin. I will give him back at the end of two phoebs. Interrupt my course again and I will make him suffer." Ottokar put his elbows on his knees and leaned his chin against his hands.

"Zisea wouldn't have wanted you to turn out this way." Coran said in a somewhat dark manner. Ottokar froze for a moment then fixed a glare on Coran.

"That is the last time you bring up my family." Ottokar said in a similar tone.

"Why? Are you afraid she'll come back to haunt you?" Coran asked. Ottokar stood from his seat and took a few steps forward.

"Keep this up and I will kill your paladin. His life doesn't mean any more to me than my own." Ottokar let out a breath slowly.

"And what of your daughter? How would she feel if she knew what you turned into?" Coran continued. Zovess took a step forward.

"My captain has already asked you to not bring them up. I'd advise that you not anger him anymore than he already is."

"What would he do then? Would he shoot our ships? Clearly he'd have to go and fetch Lance so we could attack and get them before the ship is destroyed." Ottokar let out a hollow laugh.

"I could do more damage to you with information than the cannon could do to your ship." Ottokar put a hand to Zovess's arm to tell him to stand down. "Would you like to know what your brother's dying words were? Or maybe you'd like to know the details of his death? Perhaps I could interest you in how slowly Alfor died."

"Stop." Allura said in a horrified whisper.

"How many of the guards died trying to protect him? Or maybe you'd like to know how many pieces Altea is in?" Ottokar got louder as he spoke. "Any one of these things I could tell you."

"What did happen to them?" Allura asked slowly. She looked to Ottokar with a sad look.

"His family was killed by the hands of the Galra." Wikchic answered looking down.

"So you're in the same state we are, why fight against us?" Allura asked earning a scoff from Atraq.

"Same state? You really have no clue what happened do you? The transmission when his crew called for help was answered with a 'no one can get to you, hold them off as long as you can.' His mission was supposed to be low risk, and he was attacked by three cruisers. He had to watch not only them die but his king and his planet. He had no one for the past ten thousand years. You at least have each other. Read the file, you'll understand then." Atraq said playing with one of his knives.

"That doesn't change the fact that they need the paladin back." Kolivan said prompting Ottokar to snap out of whatever trance he was in.

"I already informed you of when I will hand the paladin back. If you continue to hassle me about getting him back I will start dropping bodies. Maybe I'll start with the other human. Maybe one of the blades I accidentally rescued in my first few attempts to capture a paladin. Point is I will keep my word. Two Phoebs then I will find you. Don't contact me again." At this the transmission was cut and Ottokar looked to Wikchic with a small nod. "Fire up the teleduv. We'll be headed to the eighth sector. Lets see if we can get those planets armed and ready." Wikchic nodded as Ottokar stood ready to power the teleduv, within moments they were in a different sector that was still under Galra control. With a sigh Ottokar rubbed his temples. "I'll be in the training deck. Let Lance and Samuel out and tell them it was a false alarm. Don't under any circumstances let them know it was Allura." 

~~~

"Where's Otto?" Lance asked as Zovess walked him back to the room.

"He's on the training deck. I would advise you leave him be for sometime." He sounded a little unsure and had a sad look that Lance had to wonder about.

"Do you have his file?" Zovess looked up shocked. "Nagaz told me I could read it, but not let the captain know I've read it. Guessing by the tone of voice he won't be back for a while." Lance tried and Zovess let out a sigh.

"I'll get you his file. Just don't look at him any different then you do now. Alright?" Zovess looked sad almost as he pulled up the file on a tablet. "Here's what they had on him. Read at your own risk." Zovess turned away after leaving Lance in the room.

"I guess I'll just read then. Only way to answer my questions." Lance huffed and sat on the bed with the tablet. He skimmed through a little of it and noticed that there was several years worth of information in this particular folder, info, videos, and even schematics for his bionics. Lance went back to the beginning and started reading.

The first part of it looked like a standard abduction. Three ships attacking the vessel and taking all the passengers. Ottokar was separated from the others, while the rest were separated by gender. A child was also separated from them as well. It then goes into darker tones. They skinned some flesh off of his hip, branded their logo into his back, it even went into vivid detail about how they ripped his eye out and replaced it with the bionic one. Each form of torture brought the Galra results they didn't want. They kept asking how to get into the castle, and other security questions but Ottokar never broke. Lance was so deep into reading he didn't notice Ottokar had walked into the room.

"Four phoebs of torture and I never broke." Lance about jumped out of his skin when Ottokar spoke.

"Quiznack!" Lance shouted causing Ottokar to raise a brow.

"It was then they realized the only way to get me to talk was to torture my crew in front of me." He turned away and picked up a photo. "Six of them died that way. The others were shot and thrown out an airlock." Ottokar only stared at the picture in his hands as Lance put down the file. "My wife and daughter, they had the most cruel death of them all. But the Galra killed them all before deciding what I told them was the truth. After that they took me back to Altea and had me watch as Zarkon killed my king. They carted me back and made sure I could see that my home was destroyed. By the time they realized that the princess had escaped they had nothing left to break me with. That witch tried her hardest, but I never said anything." Ottokar put the picture back and sat on his cot. It was then that Lance realized that Ottokar wasn't wearing a shirt and he could see the scars littered across what used to be smooth skin.

"May I ask you something?" Lance voiced quietly. Ottokar looked up at him and nodded. "The file said they skinned a part of your hip, why would they do that?" The question drew a slight huff from Ottokar.

"I used to have a tattoo of sorts. A symbol of my crew. We were known as Black Nights, a group that would conduct research and rescue operations at night. A 98.6% success rate for rescues. We had been together since we were young and were one of Alfor's best. But that all changed when Dibazal was destroyed." Ottokar subconsciously moved his hand to cover his hip where the mark used to be. "So many were lost when the comet struck. Things would have been much different had we left it alone." Ottokar looked to Lance and let out a small sigh. "In two phoebs I will be handing you and Samuel back to Allura, get some rest we have a lot to do in a short amount of time." Ottokar laid down and turned his back to Lance, giving him full view of the brand that laid just under his   
shoulder blade. His back was just about as scared as his front.


	7. Chapter 7

"So we're stopping by a space mall?" Lance asked as he stood next to Ottokar on the bridge. Samuel was off with Nuk and Duner as they taught him about the stars and the constellations they were in.

"Yes, young Lance. I am guessing you would would want something that is more familiar to you. That and, I'll get you your own room." Ottokar said as he typed something in the computer.

"My own room? You mean I'm not a prisoner anymore?" Lance asked with a raised eyebrow.

"No. You still are being held captive, but I figured you'd be more comfortable being in a different room than me since my night terrors have started coming back." Ottokar stated in a somber tone. Lance looked away not really knowing what to say to that. "I think you'll like a shop in this particular mall. It has rare earth collectables, but it doesn't get many customers." Ottokar said trying to lighten his mood.

"An earth shop? Is it called Terra, or something along those lines?" Lance asked. Ottokar looked over with a raised brow.

"Now how would you know what the shop is called?"

"I got a free cow there." Ottokar tilted his head in slight confusion.

"What is a cow?" Lance looked shocked.

"I guess I shouldn't be surprised. A cow is a four legged creature with horns and produces milk." Lance said trying to word it in a way that Ottokar would understand. Ottokar had a rather active imagination and imagined something completely different than what a cow actually looked like.

"I'll be sure to avoid them in the future then." Ottokar said and tipped his head in Zovess' direction. "We'll take a shuttle. You man the ship while I'm out yes? Skurr and Cinn will join me and the paladin while we shop."

"Yes my captain." Zovess nodded.

"Play time will be when I get back, well for everyone except myself and Wikchic." Ottokar said and Zovess nodded again. Lance looked between the two confused. Ottokar nodded once and headed out with Lance trailing behind.

"What's play time?" Lance asked as he caught up with Ottokar in the hall.

"Something that you will not be involved in. It is strictly crew only." Ottokar said with a hint of a smirk on his lips. The two of them walked into the shuttle bay and it was then Lance noticed the sheer amount of different types of shuttles they had. "Skurr, Cinn. Gear up we're headed to the swap moon." The two Balmearans perked up from behind a shuttle they were repairing, with wide smiles on their faces.

"The swap moon?" Cinn asked as he practically jumped over the box that he was behind and ran up to Ottokar like an excited teen.

"Yeah. We'll get the humans some things they're used to. And maybe stop by some crystal shops." Ottokar said holding up a hand to calm Cinn down a little.

"We also need some parts for the shuttle we used that one mission. It was our best flier." Skurr said as he took a rag to wipe off his hands.

"Yes. We'll be sure and get the parts we need. Now get ready, we leave in eight doboshes." The two nodded and left the shuttle area. "Come now young Lance, we'll be taking this shuttle." Ottokar said as he led Lance to a shuttle that looked vaguely Altean in design.

"Is this an Altean ship?" Lance asked carefully, hopefully not stepping on any painful memories.

"Yeah. One of the few that happened to have been left on Dibazal. The others were unsalvageable." Ottokar said running his hand over the side of it. "She's my favorite." A smile made its way to Ottokar's face. "Let's get in and prep for take off." Lance followed Ottokar and looked around the ship, it reminded him of the one he had taken to the space mall the first time.

"Can I ride shotgun?" Lance asked as Ottokar took the pilot's seat and started pressing buttons and flipping switches.

"As in the co-pilot seat? Is that a human term?"

"Yeah." Lance paused and shuffled his foot. "Can I though?" Lance asked looking up to Ottokar with a kicked puppy look.

"I don't see why not. The controls on that side don't really work that well." Ottokar said and Lance took his seat looking around the console in front of him.

"How many gak do you have? Is that the right word for it?"

"GAC? Don't worry too much about that. We've got plenty so don't hold back when choosing anything." Ottokar said and the two Balmearans entered the shuttle, closing the doors behind them.

"Ready to go captain. How many Vargas this time?" Skurr asked as Cinn got situated in his seat.

"What say you Lance?" Ottokar asked as he looked to Lance waiting for an answer. Lance looked to the three of them confused as to why they were leaving the choice up to him.

"Uhm... three? Is that enough time to get everything?" Lance asked unsure looking to Ottokar who looked to Skurr.

"Three vargas should be plenty of time to get what we need and sight see." Skurr said with a nod.

"Then three it is. Everyone ready?" Ottokar asked and the others all nodded. "When we land Skurr, Cinn you two will be in charge of getting the shuttle parts then you can look around. Lance, you'll stay with me and we'll get the earth items for both you and Samuel. Alright?" The three in the shuttle gave an excited nod and Ottokar piloted them to the space mall. They all left and went inside, the Balmearans going off to find parts while Ottokar and Lance went to the earth shop.

"This is the same mall we stopped at to find the disks for the teleduv." Lance said excitedly. Ottokar looked concerned.

"Something happened to the teleduv on the castle ship?" Ottokar asked and Lance looked back shocked at how concerned Ottokar looked.

"We had a run in with a robeast. It damaged some of the disks and we stopped here to get some replacement ones. Pidge and I raided the fountain and got enough GAC to buy a video game. By the time we got back to the castle we realized we didn't have an outlet to plug it into." Ottokar nodded and the two of them walked into the shop.

"What would you like?" Ottokar asked as he looked around the shop picking up anything he deemed interesting. Lance looked around now that they had more time to look at everything. Lance had started looking at the clothing section. He found several outfits that would fit him then kept looking and found an outfit for each of the other paladins. He continued browsing though and found something shiny for Allura and an interesting looking science book for Coran. He had wandered over to where some plush animals were and picked out five lions with a smile on his face, one for each of the paladins. He noticed Ottokar looking at a dictionary. "Your language is so simple." Ottokar commented as he flipped through the pages. "Did you find what you wanted?" Lance nodded slowly as he looked at the cart with a weary look.

"Is it too much?" Lance asked before remembering that he hadn't found anything for Sam. "Wait, I didn't find anything for Sam yet. We still have time right?" Lance asked looking up from the cart to an amused looking Ottokar.

"You still have a varga and a half. Don't worry. You don't even have to look around this shop if you don't want to." Lance looked at his cart then thought it over again.

"He'd probably want a change of clothes. You think you could help me with his size?" Lance asked a little unsure and Ottokar only nodded. Carefully Ottokar shifted into a copy of Sam so Lance could choose an outfit he thought fit the older man.

"I can't keep this form for long." Ottokar mentioned as he winced a little when he settled on the form.

"I know. I'll be quick. I just have to think what he would like." Lance said as he held a plain shirt up to Ottokar's chest. "You know this isn't exactly what I had in mind when I wanted your help." Lance said and found a pair of pants that would fit. "But thank you. I wish I knew what he liked." Lance mumbled to himself but Ottokar heard anyways. Ottokar tilted his head in thought.

"I may have an idea. What if you got him a frame? I can pull up some images of his kids and you could frame it for him." Ottokar said looking to Lance. Lance only thought it over a bit before nodding.

"That may work. Thanks for the size help." Lance said and Ottokar shifted back to his normal form with a groan. Lance held his hands out as Ottokar started to sway on his feet. "You okay?" Lance asked.

"Yeah, just need time to adjust." Ottokar said bringing a hand to his head. "You ready to go? There's a food place here that seems to serve something edible." Ottokar stabled his footing and went to the alien at the counter and paid for everything Lance picked out and the dictionary. They headed out to the food court and met up with Skurr and Cinn as they were at the table with food waiting already.

"This came from that Sals place didn't it?" Lance asked with a smile on his face.

"How did you know?" Cinn asked looking confused.

"My buddy Hunk helped him make better food. Guess the recepie stuck." Lance smiled and took a seat. Ottokar sat as well with the bags next to the booth. Lance started eating the food that was in front of him while the others conversed.

"Did you get all the parts we need?" Ottokar asked as he poked at the food on his plate with his fork.

"Yep. Even looked around the crystal shop and found some really cool ones." Cinn answered taking a bite of his food.

"You and Wikchic running diagnostics when we get back?" Skurr asked in a somewhat down tone, causing Lance to look between them confused.

"Yeah." Ottokar pushed his plate away slightly and let out a soft sigh.

"If it would be alright with you cap, the crew could wait till you're finished for play time. We all know you need it more than we do." Cinn said carefully placing his hand on Ottokars forearm. This drew a small huff of a laugh from Ottokar.

"If you are all willing to wait the varga it would take to run a complete diagnostic then so be it." Twin smiles came to the brothers faces at the captains words, Lance only sat there dumbstruck. "Eat up then. We need to be getting back soon." They all nodded and finished their plates.

"Otto? What sort of diagnostic would you be running?" Lance asked as they were heading back to their shuttle.

"A thorough one." Ottokar sighed. "You see, my limbs are not the ones I used to have and unlike your friends mine can reattach themselves after being removed. The diagnostic that Wikchic and I have to run requires them to be removed and inspected for any glitches. I'd rather do this than chance my loss of control." Ottokar got quieter as he spoke. Lance only looked to his feet in conflicted confusion.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" Lance asked earning a no in response.

"You could use the training deck if you'd like. There are several sessions you could run through." Ottokar said as he stood to his feet, picking up the bags as well.

"Sessions?" Lance asked almost curious as to how different they would be than the ones on the castle ship.

"Yeah, there's a jungle one where you have to use survival skills to finish. And there's one where you have to hit all kinds of targets blaster. They're pretty fun if you try them out." Cinn said as he stood up with his brother. Lance followed after, not wanting to be the odd one out. "When we get back I can show you how to work the selection." Cinn had a wide smile as he spoke drawing a smile from Lance as well.

"Sounds like a plan." Lance agreed and the small group headed back to the shuttle. Lance turned back to Ottokar. "You'll help me with the picture later though right?" Ottokar nodded.

"If you'd like I can scan some images together and you can take your pick." Lance nodded and they all climbed in the shuttle, Lance sitting in the back with the Balmearan brothers while Ottokar piloted the ship back.

~~~

Keith was found in the training room, taking out several gladiator bots, when Shiro found him. Without taking his attention off of the scattered parts Keith let out a groan.

"What?" He asked rather sharply and Shiro only held up his hands.

"Pidge found some video footage of Lance. They were at the space mall that you went to and brought back a cow." Shiro said putting a hand on Keith's shoulder. Keith huffed and glared slightly at Shiro.

"Why tell me. You heard that captain, Lance won't be coming back for two Phoebs. What are we supposed to do with the information?" Keith asked and Shiro only sighed.

"I thought you'd like to know he looks alright. Otto even bought him some stuff from that earth shop." Shiro said hoping to help ease Keith out of whatever angry rut he dug himself into. Keith only huffed.

"Okay, can I get back to training?" Keith asked shooting Shiro a slightly irritated look. Shiro let out a small sigh and rubbed the back of his neck with his human hand.

"Why don't you go watch some of the footage. I think you need to take a break from training." Keith rolled his eyes and put his bayard away.

"Whatever." Keith mumbled as he walked past Shiro. He made it to his room to find that Pidge had set a tablet with the footage on his bed. He glanced at it for a moment and decided he'd watch it later. After taking his paladin armor off and rinsing his face he finally sat down on the bed staring at the tablet. With a sigh he picked up the tablet and got comfortable on the bed before turning the feed on. Keith watched slightly curious, Lance hadn't been forced to follow Ottokar which confused him to no end. Ottokar was actually the one following Lance and keeping an eye out for any potential dangers. With his attention mostly on Ottokar, Keith almost missed the smile that came to Lance's face as he picked up a red plush animal. Keith continued watching, switching his attention between the captain and Lance. He watched Ottokar as he helped Lance with the stuff and even made sure Lance was fed. "Guess he's not that bad." Keith mumbled to himself, but made a mental note to not mention it in front of Allura or Coran. He still couldn't figure out how they felt about him. In a haze of curiosity he set the tablet down and went to find Pidge. He found her in her lab, tinkering with something, but otherwise alone.

"Did you watch the footage that was on the tablet?" She asked without looking up. Keith nodded and walked closer.

"I did. But I came here for something else." At this her interest piqued and she looked up. "Do you think you could access the files the Galra have on Ottokar? If you can't I can see if I can get a copy from Kolivan." Pidge thought it over for a bit before nodding.

"It may take a bit, but I'll see what I can find."

"Thank's Pidge." Keith said before heading out. He couldn't get the image of Lance as he gave a sad look to Ottokar out of his head. Something must have happened, either Lance felt sorry for the captain or the captain did something to Lance. Since Lance wasn't where he could answer Keith decided to do a little research.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So next part I may go a bit further into the captain/crew relationship, then I'm a little stuck for what to write. Hopefully this is still alright?


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this part has more detail about 'play time'. Nothing too detailed, but just thought I'd give the head's up. If you don't want to read it is marked with *****.

"Last test then we can get your limbs back on." Wickchic said looking over some schematics of each of Ottokar's bionics, including his eye.

"Good, because believe it or not I don't like sitting without being able to move." Ottokar said from his lounged spot on the reclined chair. Wickchic looked to him with a small smile.

"Well that's understandable." Wickchic walked over to the chair and climbed into it so he had his knees on either side of Ottokar's hips. "Without your limbs you're powerless to defend yourself against any advancements." Wickchic trailed his fingers up Ottokar's chest.

"I'm still the captain. I could send you off ship for mutiny." Ottokar teased and Wickchic leaned in closer.

"Then who would put you back together, sir?" Wickchic looked to Ottokar with his bicolored eyes. "I'm an asset to your crew." A slight laugh escaped Ottokar as he craned his neck to whisper in Wickchic's ear.

"I could always replace you." Ottokar ghosted his tongue along Wickchic's jaw. "But I think I'll have more fun punishing you." A shiver found it's way down Wickchic's spine.

"Yes sir." Wickchic stated, before he could do anything else the computer dinged informing the two that the scans were complete.

"You gonna get that?" Ottokar asked looking up at Wickchic with a raised brow. Wickchic looked to the computer for a moment before shyly looking back to Ottokar.

"Can I touch a little longer?" Wickchic asked carefully, keeping his eyes down.

"You have control at the moment." Ottokar said with a slight smirk. "I can't do anything to prevent a few touches." Wickchic looked up a bit and brought his fingers down Ottokar's chest.

"It's a shame your skin is scarred, but it's still beautiful." Wickchic said having his eyes follow his fingers. "So many close calls." Wickchic trailed his fingers over the more severe of the scars, the main one being across his rib cage. "To think you wouldn't have made it, I'd still be a prisoner." Wickchic leaned closer to Ottokar's shoulder.

"You would have been saved. I'm sure the resistance would have gotten you." Ottokar said nuzzling his head to Wickchic's. Wickchic curled up into Ottokar's chest.

"It was terrifying. I don't know how you made it for so long." Wickchic started to shake and Ottokar nuzzled against his head.

"To be honest, I don't know how I made it either." A sigh left Ottokar as he glanced at the computer screen. "Between the experiments and the fighting, all logic points to me not being able to. You and the others saved me from myself." Wickchic looked up with slightly teary eyes. "Feeling better?" Ottokar asked tilting his head slightly. Wickchic nodded with a slight sniffle.

"Yeah, I'll get you put back together." Wickchic sniffled and climbed off Ottokar's lap. He quickly went about putting Ottokar back together, starting with his eye. "Tell you the truth, you look odd without your eye." Ottokar chuckled and allowed the mechanics to work and pull the eye into place.

"Not too comfortable with it out either. I've gotten so used to seeing schematics and scans that it's odd to not see them." Ottokar said testing the eye movements. Wickchic picked up his left arm and started attaching it back into the socket. "I'd have to say if I spontaneously got my limbs back I don't think I'd be able to handle it." Wickchic laughed a little and fixed Ottokar's other arm.

"Just so long as you're still the captain. I wouldn't care what you look like." Wickchic said as Ottokar tested his arms, hands, and fingers.

"It's hard to be captain when so many terrible things keep happening to my crew." Ottokar said quietly as Wickchic dragged over his left leg.

"Not so much has happened to us." Wickchic attempted trying to keep Ottokar from slipping. "You keep us sane. That means a lot to us." Ottokar tried to smile but it faltered. He helped Wickchic with the leg as it reattached to his upper thigh.

"We work well together." Ottokar said patting Wickchic on the head. "Thank you for this Wickchic. The others wouldn't know what to do if something went wrong." Ottokar stretched out his leg as the two of them attached the other. The door opened and Zovess walked in with Lance trailing behind.

"Good to see you back together again." Zovess said as he helped Wickchic stabilize the leg.

"So you come all the way apart?" Lance asked as he approached slowly.

"Not entirely. The bionics detach, but nothing else." Ottokar said as he moved the leg about. He looked to Lance and raised a brow. "What brings you here? Has Cinn bored you with explaining the training deck?" Lance looked away, bringing a hand to the back of his neck.

"Sorta. It seemed a bit confusing, and I didn't get half of what he was saying. It's like listening to Hunk or Pidge when they talk about mechanics." Ottokar let out a small chuckle, letting Wickchic and Zovess help him up.

"That can happen. Cinn tends to get a little excitable when talking of things he likes." After a few steps to test the reconnected limbs he patted Zovess on the arm. "You and the others get started. I'll help Lance with the training deck." Zovess nodded and led Wickchic out of the room. "And you can follow me." Lance followed after Ottokar as he went in the hall. "I'll have a sentry posted outside if you need anything. One of the others is with Sam." Lance nodded and followed quietly. They made it to the training deck in a short time and Ottokar explained the controls in a simple way for Lance to understand, by showing him how to work it. "Just call Mo, if you have any trouble." Ottokar said as he was headed out.

"Mo?" Lance asked slightly confused, looking away from the controls.

"Mo will be your guide, so to speak." A sentry appeared in the doorway, he looked like any other sentry except the green triangle on his chest plate and on one side of his face. "Mo, you are to watch Lance." Ottokar turned to leave but looked to Lance. "He'll help you if you need anything." Lance nodded and Ottokar left him to his own devices.

*****

Ottokar made his way to the play room, what used to be a conference room but he and the crew converted it to a room they could all have their fun in. The lights were usually kept darker than the rest of the ship. The room itself was fairly open with a few benches near the walls and two thin columns about a fourth of the way into the room on either side. The middle was kept open for when they would finish and cuddle in one big pile. A closet like thing was near the door that held all the toys and things they would use during play time, pillows and blankets were kept there as well. The cleaning supplies however were kept in the small bathroom that was attached to the back of the room, should anyone need to use it.

Walking in he saw that the others were all paired in their normal duos. And as usual when he joins the others in the room he goes to each to leave them with a kiss. He started with the experimenting switchers, Nuk and Cinn, Cinn being the bottom this time and surprisingly they were not doing anything new.

"Captain." Nuk said as he continued with what he was doing. Ottokar leaned down to give him a kiss.

"Nuk." He went to Cinn and left him with a kiss as well. "Cinn." He left them to walk to the others. Skurr and Atraq being his next couple, the biter and the cutter respectively. Atraq was working on another design that would leave a faded scar on Skurr's chest.

"Captain." They said at the same time as Ottokar approached. Atraq eagerly left his blade to greet him. Ottokar humored Atraq and let him do as he pleased before pulling back.

"Atraq." Ottokar went over to Skurr and brushed his fingers against the partly finished picture. "Skurr." Ottokar leaned down to leave a kiss against his lips. "Don't hurt each other too bad, I still need you two to be able to perform your tasks." He got a 'yes sir' from the both of them before he continued on his round. Nagaz and Wol were next, the two liked to take their time when it came to this earning them the title of slow and sweet. They were still prepping when Ottokar approached.

"My captain." Nagaz said holding out a hand, his ears flopping back in a relaxed position. Ottokar took his hand and leaned in to kiss the much larger male.

"Nagaz." He said quietly as he pulled back. Wol watched the two interact and waited patiently for his turn. Nagaz moved his tail to wrap around Wol's wrist to let him know he hasn't forgotten him. Ottokar put his forehead to Nagaz's for a moment before turning to Wol. "I haven't forgotten you." He pulled Wol closer and gave him his kiss. Nagaz wrapped his arms around Wol's middle, drawing a keen from him. "You two have fun." Ottokar said as he patted Wol on the shoulder. He left them to go to the next couple. Wickchic and Dunner were already well into what they were doing, the hard and fast ones of the whole group. Dunner had Wickchic pinned to the wall and neither noticed Ottokar approach, too busy with each other. Ottokar tilted Dunner's head back and cut off his surprised noise with a kiss. With Dunner's stopping Wickchic turned his head as best he could to see what happened.

"Sir." Wickchic was practically breathless as he watched them. Ottokar pulled back and sent Wickchic a side glance.

"I was going to punish him." Ottokar ghosted his fingers up Wickchics side causing him to shiver. "Can I leave the task to you?" Ottokar left a small kiss to Dunner's jaw. He nodded not really wanting to speak. "Good boy." Ottokar purred and gave Wickchic a small kiss before leaving the two to their own devices. Ottokar then walked over to where Zovess was sitting quietly on a bench with some rope sitting over his lap.

"My captain." Zovess said quietly, looking up revealing that he had taken the time to remove the powder that normally hides his markings. From the tip of his nose up to the bridge a thin red 'v' shape started and trailed under each eye like thin eyeliner, a thin red line trailed from his lip down his chin. Another marking of his rested on his forehead, a light purple, almost white, diamond shape contrasting with his darker fur tone.

"Zovess." Ottokar said putting a hand to Zovess' cheek, trailing a thumb over the red marking just under his yellow eye. Zovess leaned into the touch, closing his eyes. "Your marks are quite alluring." Ottokar said quietly resting his forehead to Zovess'. Zovess hated his markings, having them remind him of his brother. He never used to cover them, feeling proud they were his. It was only after Kolivan tried to kill Ottokar to get Zovess back. Zovess made a pur like noise and nuzzled closer to Ottokar, to where their noses were touching. "What would you like me to do with this?" Ottokar said picking up the rope from Zovess' lap. A slight blush formed on his cheeks as he looked away.

"I want it like the first night you were assigned to me." Zovess looked up slightly and Ottokar nodded.

"Anything for you. My master." Ottokar whispered into Zovess' ear, drawing a shuddered gasp from his lips. Ottokar unbound the rope and meticulously measured it so it would be even when he tied it. "You remember you can break the rope if it gets to be too much." Zovess nodded, it hadn't happened yet but one can never be too careful when it comes to these things. Ottokar made sure to get a rope that was sturdy, but weak enough that Wickchic could break it if needed. He didn't want any accidents to happen on his ship.

Ottokar took the rope and carefully tied it around Zovess' neck, being sure it wasn't too tight. Once that was done he had Zovess lift his arms and put his hands behind his head, crossing his wrists behind his neck. With this Ottokar set about criss crossing the rope so it was tied in an intricate diamond pattern over the span of his chest and back. Ottokar took a step back to admire his work and snapped his fingers.

"On your knees." Zovess followed the order and knelt down, Ottokar took the untied ends of the rope and continued with his work. He restrained Zovess' legs, ankle to thigh, and made sure none of the circulation was getting cut off. He then got a slightly less long piece and proceeded to restrain his arms, tying his upper arms and wrists in the position they were in. Pulling the rope in front he held it steady. "Open." Zovess opened his mouth and Ottokar tied a decent sized knot before gagging his second in command. "It must be a special occasion, I don't think I've ever gotten a gift this nice." Ottokar smirked at the hum Zovess made. Ottokar made a show of getting undressed, keeping eye contact the entire time. "It'd be rude of me not to use such a pretty thing." Ottokar knelt down and trailed his fingers up Zovess' chest, following the diamond pattern of the rope. Zovess was highly aroused at this point and Ottokar took pity on him, climbing up onto his lap and sinking down completely onto Zovess. The two sat there getting used to the sensation. "And to think it's only been ten decapheobs since I was first assigned as your pleasure pet." Ottokar hummed as he started moving. Zovess let out a small moan, although it was muffled by the gag, and did his best to sit still. "Would you want me to go back to that, my master?" Ottokar said as he glanced up at Zovess, he shook his head no as best he could and attempted to thrust his hips upward. Ottokar smirked and left small feather light kisses to Zovess' jawline. "You prefer me as your captain?" A whisper to his ear, and he nodded. Ottokar hummed and set a steady pace. "Such a good boy for me." Ottokar brought his hands up to rest on Zovess' cheeks and peppered kisses along his markings, as he kept up his steady pace till the two of them were finished. Ottokar got off of Zovess, trying to keep the mess to a minimum. "You did good Zovess." Ottokar said as he started to untie the ropes, starting with his legs, being sure to massage feeling back into the limbs as he went. The last rope off was the one around his arms and the gag. "You good?" Ottokar asked in a quiet manner. Zovess nodded with a small hum.

"Yes, my captain." Zovess said as he nuzzled against Ottokar's chin. Ottokar took a glance to the center of the room, where they would all gather to cuddle when they finished, to find Wickchic and Duner already cuddled in a nest of pillows and blankets.

"Let's join the others." Ottokar nuzzled back and helped Zovess to his feet, making their way over to the nest. Duner looked up and smiled slightly as the two approached.

"You'll have to teach me how to tie like you do sir." Duner said as Ottokar and Zovess climbed into the nest to cuddle the two there. An easy smile made its way to Ottokar's lips.

"Maybe next play time." Ottokar purred. His three crew members cuddled closer as he made himself comfortable. They started dozing off before some of the others started to join them.

*****

Lance huffed as he shut off the training decks holographic setting of a forest. He left the room to find Mo standing on the other side of the hall waiting for him.

"Do you require any assistance?" Mo asked tilting his head slightly in curiosity. Lance sighed and looked up and down the hall before deciding to vent to Mo.

"Not really, I'm just bored since I don't have any of my teammates with me. I don't know what I want to do since it's no fun by myself." Lance crossed his arms over his middle and looked to the floor. Mo took the few steps closer to Lance and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"I may not be a teammate, but I can accompany you if you would like? We could raid the tech room and get some transmission disks if you wanted to get a message over to your team. Or I could take you on a tour of the ship, although it isn't that interesting. Samuel is also on ship, he is with Li at the moment in the observation deck if you wish to speak with another of your species." Mo said taking his hand off Lance's shoulder to hold both behind his back.

"Transmission disks?" Lance asked more interested in that out of the things Mo suggested. Mo nodded and held a hand out down the hallway.

"They are disks that you can record a message and send them to others throughout the universe." Mo informed. Lance started walking the direction Mo directed. "If you would like you can record a message for one of your fellow paladins. I can get in contact with others and get it to them." Lance perked up, having Mo follow just a step behind Lance as he led the way.

"That sounds great. I would like to do that if I can." Lance looked back at Mo to see him nod.

"There is a time limit for how much you can record. It can only hold about a Varga's worth of information. So when you do make your message be mindful of that." Mo said opening a door. Inside the room was a bunch of tech pieces lying about the room, cables and other assorted wires scattered about as well. "I'll go find the box where the transmission disks would be, stay by the door. I don't want to loose you in this mess." Lance nodded as he looked around the room from his spot by the door. He watched as Mo moved about the room, looking through several boxes before making an 'ah-ha' noise.

"You find them Mo?" Lance asked, refusing to take a step into the room.

"Yes, I found the box with the disks in it." Mo walked up to Lance with a box in his arms. "If you would like we can move this box to your room and you can record in there." Mo suggessted picking a disk up out of the box and looking it over.

"Yeah, that sounds good. I mean Otto says I'm only staying two phoebs anyways, so I don't think I'll use all of them." Lance said with a nod, Mo walked him out of the room.

"Then let's get you set up. After you." Mo followed Lance, correcting the directions when Lance took a wrong turn. Lance went into his room with Mo waiting at the door.

"You can come in if you'd like. No reason to hang around the door." Lance said as he sat on his bed. Mo walked in, a little unsure.

"I'll leave the box on your desk. Would you like help with the disks?" Mo asked as he set the box on the desk. Lance got up and stood next to Mo.

"Sure. It couldn't be too hard could it?" Lance asked hypothetically. Mo turned to look at Lance with a tilted head.

"Not overly so." Mo said then went into explaining how the disk worked. "If you require any more assistance I will be outside." Mo left the room and closed the door. Lance let out a small sigh looking down to the disk in his hand. Lance set up the disk and went to record. He brought a hand up to behind his neck and looked to the side nervously.

"Hey. Uh- Keith, I got this disk from Mo. He says I can contact you guys, so here goes. I don't know what to talk about, but I guess it could be anything right? Uhm, first thing first I guess, I'm fine. Better than fine actually, Otto's been training with me. I'm getting better at hand to hand. It's a lot tougher than what's on the castle ship. Otto's a good guy, I don't know if he's been in contact with you or not, but he isn't that bad. He's apparently a terrible cook according to Zovess. And Atraq says he's got soft skin, not that I'd test that out myself. Otto's pretty closed off with what happened. It's pretty bad, the Galra hurt him bad." Lance went quiet for a bit before looking to the door. "I could tell you about the crew. They're pretty fun even if I don't know some of them well. Let's see, there's three Galra, three Balmearans, Two Unilu, and one Olkari. You've seen Zovess, he's a little awkward but pretty nice. The other two Galra are pretty unique. There's Nagaz who's like a ten foot cat. Super friendly but easily offended. Atraq is like a four foot Ulaz if you can picture that, except with twice the temper. And all three of them have siblings. Nagaz has a sister who's apparently a general which is cool. The two others have older brothers. I don't know who any of them are though."

"The Balmearans are actually brothers with Cinn being the youngest. He's about six feet tall, the other two being taller. Skurr, from what I gather is the middle one, and Wol is the oldest. Wol reminds me of Hunk, he cooks and is pretty friendly. The Unilu's are not actually related, but look like they could be twins. Nuk and Duner, I don't know much about them. But Sam hangs out with them a lot. Apparently they are good at pickpocketing and are good with constellations. And Wickchic is the Olkari. Like the Olkari version of Pidge. He made these things called shift disks and they're pretty cool. The disks mimic the Altean chameleon ability, although they don't work on Altean's or Unilu's. Not sure why though." Lance looked around the room before looking back to record.

"Ottokar has lost a lot too. He had a nightmare the other day and woke up pretty much the whole ship. He went to the training deck where they have holograms. I got to see what his wife and daughter looked like. She was so cute too. And apparently it's an Altean thing to dislike human ears." Lance started to pout at the memory. "Oh, but there's a time limit on this disk. Maybe next time I can find the picture of Otto's crew, Coran looks so much younger." Lance smiled a bit and waved at the camera. "Maybe I can get Mo to send you a disk so you can send me a reply and tell me how it goes over there while I'm here. Later Samurai" Lance smiled sadly at the camera before turning off the recording. He held the disk close before walking to his door. As Mo said, he was waiting outside and looked up as Lance's door opened.

"Are you finished with your message?" Mo asked and Lance nodded.

"Yeah, could you make sure that Keith gets this?" Lance asked and when Mo tilted his head slightly Lance clarified. "The red paladin. It's for him." Land handed the disk over to Mo.

"It may be yet another Varga until the crew comes out of the playroom. Would you like a tour of the ship?" Lance nodded and let Mo lead him around.

~~~~~

The paladins that were left on the ship were all on edge knowing that Lance wouldn't be returning for a while. Each were on their own missions in different parts of the universe. Keith happened to be the closest to Ottokar's ship, unknowingly. A shuttle approached the red lion at a slow pace. Keith watched and maneuvered the lion so that it was facing the shuttle.

"Red paladin of voltron." A sentry greeted from the shuttle on video chat. Keith was weary, it was a galra sentry with a green triangle on its face, but it wasn't a galra shuttle.

"What do you want?" Keith asked, fingers itching to fire on the ship.

"I have a gift for you from the blue paladin." At this Keith faltered slightly.

"What is this 'gift'?" Keith automatically thought of the worst thinking Lance was hurt or something.

"A message. If you would allow me, I can give you the disk. My captain doesn't know about this communication at the moment, and it would be appreciated if you kept it under wraps as well." The sentry continued and held up the disk with Lance's message. Keith contemplated for a moment before nodding.

"Alright. But if Lance is hurt I will kill your captain." Keith said, even though he highly doubts he'd be much of a challenge for such a veteran fighter.

"Your blue paladin is doing alright. He's probably eating with the others at the moment." The sentry informed and Keith nodded again. The shuttle docked in the red lion's belly and the Sentry stayed on the shuttle and Keith walked down to meet him. The sentry handed the disk over. "He's left a personalized message for you. Hopefully these two phoebs pass quickly for the lot of you." The sentry said, Keith accepted the disk and the sentry started to head back inside his shuttle.

"Wait. You're a part of Ottokar's crew?" Keith asked, stopping him from going further. The sentry turned and nodded once.

"Yes. I am the sentry Mo, assigned to Lance as a guide of sort. I am in charge of taking care of his every whim." The sentry bowed slightly. "Oh, He also gave me a second disk, should you want to message him back." Mo handed the second disk to Keith. "Should you send the message press this and I can come retrieve it." Mo said handing Keith a simple looking device with only one button. "It'll inform me that I am needed. I can also track the device after it's been activated so I can come to you." Keith nodded and held the items close.

"Thank you." Keith said watching as Mo walked into the ship.

"Till we meet again young paladin." Mo closed the ship and waited for Keith to give him the okay to leave. Keith watched as the shuttle left and he stared at the disks in his hand. A low rumble from the red lion sounded.

"I'll watch when we get back." Keith said but thought it over for a bit. "Actually I'll watch it now and record when we get back." The lion rumbled again, and Keith played the message with a small smile as he watched.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is also the last part I have pre written, so it may take some time before another part is out. I'd love to know what you'd like to read maybe any suggestions will spark inspiration and maybe I can get another part out sooner? Just a thought.


	9. Chapter 9

Days on the castle ship went by quietly. Hunk and Pidge seemed out of it, not working on any projects lately. Shiro was a little here and there for the most part. Coran and Allura seemed to be a mix of anger and irritation. Keith for the most part seemed okay, less agitated since getting back from his personal mission.

 

Pidge was the first to pick up on Keith's mood change and decided to talk to him about it.

"You seem chipper." Pidge mentioned as Keith left the training room with a ghost of a smile on his face.

"Had a good run today." Keith answered. He wiped the sweat from his face off with a towel. "What's the problem with that?" Keith asked as he headed down the hallway. Pidge followed with a skeptical look.

"Nothing. Just ever since you got back from your scouting mission you've seemed in a better mood. I wanted to know what happened." Pidge said and Keith only shook his head slightly.

"I just happened across something fun, nothing too out of the ordinary." Keith sent a side glance to Pidge. She hummed with a small nod.

"Is it about Lance?" Pidge asked quietly, stopping in the hall. Keith paused as well. He looked around the hall before pulling Pidge close by the arm.

"I can show you but you can't breathe a word of this." Keith whispered and pulled Pidge to his room. He made sure the door was shut before pulling a device from under his pillow. "Since the mission Lance and I have somewhat been in contact." Pidge perked up a little and looked at the device in Keith's hands.

"Looks like a communication device of some kind." Pidge said and Keith handed her the device.

"Yeah. Mo brings me one every now and then and I can send some back with him." Keith said not really sure about sharing some of the information with Pidge.

"Who's Mo?" Pidge asked and Keith smirked a little.

"He's Lance's guard of sorts. He's a reformed Galra sentry, green triangles are his marker." Pidge lit up a bit and held up the device.

"Can I?" Pidge asked. Keith nodded and let Pidge watch the first disk that Keith had gotten. She teared up a little but smiled up at Keith when it was finished. "Guess this is why you've been in a better mood lately. Would it be okay if I joined you when you get your next one, or when you send one?" Pidge asked and Keith thought it over.

"I'm not sure how Coran or Allura would feel about it, but I guess it couldn't hurt." Keith decided. "Maybe we could send some of Hunk's cookies too. Lance said something about missing them, even though Wol tries it isn't the same. Or something along those lines."

"I think it'd be cool if we could all just get along. I'd like to meet some of the crew. And tour the ship. Imagine how much we could learn about Galra tech with his help." Pidge started to go off about the tech wich all sounded like gibberish to Keith.

"Oh. One of the other disks Lance sent he showed me a picture. Let me see if I can find it." Keith said and moved his pillow to reveal four other disks. He picked up one, turning it on before turning it off and picking up another one. The next two were the same. The last disk he watched part of the way through before pausing it on an image. "This is an older picture of Ottokar." He held it up to Pidge and she looked it over.

"That looks like a younger Coran." Pidge pointed out and looked at the others in the image. Keith pointed out a woman with pink hair.

"This is what Otto's wife looked like. Apparently his daughter looks like a copy of her. And this is Alfor." Keith pointed him out, then looked to the others in the picture. "The others were a part of Ottokar's original crew." Keith paused his talking and looked at the image again not really sure how to feel about it.

"His crew? So, the people Allura and Coran knew?" Pidge asked looking over the image again carefully. She pointed to one near the young Coran. "Who is this? He looks close to Coran." She said, but Keith only shrugged.

"No idea. Lance says Otto doesn't talk about his crew. It's a sore subject, given my light reading I don't blame him." Keith paused a bit thinking, and looking over the image. "Coran said he was prison keep on Altea? That means there should be files of him somewhere here. Think you could do some digging?" Pidge smirked as she looked up to Keith.

"I know I can. We'll have the info and we can tell Lance too, that way he'll know and not ask Otto for the answers." Pidge handed the communication disk back to Keith. "I'll do some digging, if you can keep the others out of it. We'll have to keep this between the three of us since both our 'Captains' don't know what we're up to." Keith nodded.

"Sounds like a plan." The two hid the disks under the pillow again and Pidge laughed a little.

"You know I could hide these in my room. More stuff to distract nosey people." Pidge said as the two headed to the door.

"Maybe some other time. At the moment I don't think anyone is curious about it." The two left and walked down the hallway to the mess hall.

After a rather quiet dinner Keith and Pidge made their way to her lab. Hunk watched in mild curiosity, and Shiro sat looking somewhat lost in thought.

"So how long would it take to get the files on him?" Keith asked as he hovered over Pidge as she sat at her computer.

"Shouldn't take too long. At most a couple hours."

"Couple hours for what?" Hunk asked as he walked into the room. Keith and Pidge both jumped slightly, looking like deer caught in headlights. "I can't know?" Hunk asked looking a little sad at the fact he was being left out.

"It's sorta a secret, but I guess we could tell him." Keith said contemplating, looking from Pidge to Hunk. "We can't let Allura know, and definitely not Coran." Hunk raised a brow.

"What is it?" Hunk walked closer and looked over Pidge's shoulder.

"We've been talking to Lance. Or rather Keith has been talking to Lance. We were gonna look up some info on Otto from before he was taken by the Galra." Pidge said turning back to her computer and typing away. The three sat quietly as the computer ran its course. Keith was actually waiting for someone to walk in while they were waiting. "Got it." Pidge said as a file popped up on her screen. She opened it and the three looked at it.

"Looks like Otto was a likeable guy. Prison guard for several years, no breakouts. In fact it looks like the prisoners liked having him as a guard." Hunk said reading over some of it.

"Zesia, his wife was his navigator. Ithil their four year old daughter." Keith read aloud. "Look at that. Otto's second in command was Jackson Smythe."

"Wait, Isn't Coran's last name Smythe?" Pidge asked looking to the two leering over her shoulders. "Would that make the guy in the photo his brother?" Keith looked away with a frown.

"Coran's brother was Otto's second in command. That would explain why Coran hates him so much. He must blame Otto for the death of his brother." Keith looked back to the two. "After they tortured Otto they turned on his crew. Jackson was the first to die." The others looked back to the screen with equally sad looks.

"So we should keep this quiet, don't want Coran knowing we found out about this." Pidge said minimizing the file. "I'll send a file to your tablets so you can read more. I kinda like the guy, you know, minus the kidnaping of Lance. Still not sure why he did that anyways." Pidge mumbled that last part to herself typing away at her computer.

"Thank you. Uhm, word of advice, don't read the galra file. It's pretty graphic and they went on for months trying to get Otto to talk." Keith advised and Hunk nodded. He didn't really want the others to have to deal with the knowledge of what they did. If they had any questions they could always ask him and he could tell them.

Keith went back to his room and found a blank communication disk and started recording a message for Lance. He kept it short, just letting him know a little about what Ottokar was like before the Galra. Just as he finished up there was a knock at his door. As quickly as he could, he hid the disk. "Yeah?" Keith asked a little startled. The door opened to reveal Shiro. "What's up?" Shiro shrugged a bit.

"Nothing really, just wanted to know if you'd want to train a little with me. Get your mind off Lance for a little while." Keith nodded with a half attempt at a smile.

"Sounds good, I'll uh, meet you up there in a bit." Shiro nodded with a raised brow but walked off anyways. As soon as the door closed Keith let out a sigh. He looked to the communication disk, before hiding it in his desk. "I'll get you to Mo later." Keith reminded himself as he shut the desk drawer. He left his room feeling anxious, not exactly sure why but something in his gut told him not to let Shiro know about the communication with Lance.

The two sparred for almost an hour, neither one really gaining an upper hand. That is until Keith moved in a way that Lance had taught him over the disks. Keith had blocked a hit Shiro would have landed, and he quickly spun himself under Shiro's arm and jabbed him in the ribs. Shiro held up a hand to pause the spar and held his side.

"Where'd you learn that?" Shiro asked, genuinely curious. Keith panicked a bit on the inside.

"I've been working on some new techniques during my training." It wasn't a total lie, he had been working on the moves, he just neglected to tell Shiro where the moves came from.

"They seem to be working," Shiro patted Keith on the shoulder. "Keep up the good work." Shiro left Keith to his own devices and left the room, still holding his side. Shiro walked around the hall, rubbing his side slightly confused. 'When had Keith learned a move like that?' Shiro wondered, he had sat in on most of Keith's solo training and hadn't seen that move before. He hummed a little, and thought it over a bit. 'Maybe he's just trying something new and happened to try it with me first.' Shiro walked to the control room to find the princess and Coran talking amongst themselves.

"Ah, Shiro. Finish training with Keith for the day?" Coran asked and Shiro shrugged.

"For the most part. He used a move I hadn't seen him use before." Coran raised a brow at this with a hum.

"Did it work?"

"Yeah, side still hurts too." Shiro said moving his hand away, trying to ignore the pain. Allura walked over and looked him over.

"What did he do?" Allura asked curious. Coran hummed and pulled up the footage of their training. The three watched each for their own reasons. Coran had picked up a cup of tea and took a sip as they all watched. After Keith pulled the move that Shiro hadn't seen before, Coran dropped the cup shattering it on the floor.

"What's wrong?" Shiro asked as Coran stared at the feed that was now empty.

"That's something my brother created." Coran seemed confused. "How would Keith have learned that?" Now he looked angry, he rewound the feed and watched Keith again.

"Maybe he learned it on his own?" Shiro suggested, but still curious about it. 'If it really is a move that Coran's brother created, how would Keith know it?' 

"Keith somehow has been in contact with Ottokar. That's the only reason he would know." Coran said looking back to Shiro.

"How would he be in contact with Ottokar without the rest of us knowing?" Shiro asked, Allura looking just as confused.

"I don't know, but somehow he has. That's the only way he could know that move." Coran crossed his arms and looked to the console with a glare. Allura and Shiro shrugged looking to each other.

"I'll keep an eye on him if you want?" Shiro suggested and Coran lit up.

"Jolly good my boy. You do that and I'll put a monitoring system on our communications to make sure we aren't getting any unusual contact with that traitor." Coran seemed unusually peppy when deciding what to do, but the venom in his voice when he said traitor sounded a bit dark for the usually happy man. Shiro couldn't decide what to do at the moment other than to nod so that's what he did.

"I'm gonna turn in for the night." Shiro rubbed the back of his neck and left the room with a nod.

"Don't forget we have training in the morning." Allura called out before the doors shut.

~~~~~

Lance fell to the floor with a grunt.

"Come on blue. I'm even going easy." Nagaz said as he bounced around waiting for Lance to get up. Lance groaned a bit and rolled over and got up to his hands and knees.

"Easy for you to say. You're a freaking giant." Lance complained looking up to the Galra.

"Don't be so mean to him kitty. He's trying to learn." Ithil said from where she sat. Wickchic was next to her tinkering with another shift disk, not paying attention to what was going on around him.

"I'm not being that mean." Nagaz said as Ithil made her way to Lance and patted his shoulder.

"You just have to look for his weak spot. Every galra has one."

"Weak spot?" Ithil hummed with a nod.

"Yeah. It could be anything, a physical spot or even a mental tick. Just watch him carefully before attacking." Ithil said and walked back to her spot. Lance got back to his feet and watched Nagaz for a bit, nothing seemed to scream out as a weakness. Except maybe the fact that Nagaz kept moving his tail side to side, ears flicking back every so often. Just as Lance was about to dive in and grab his tail the ship shuddered, drawing everyone's eyes to the ceiling.

"To the bridge." Nagaz said and he and Wickchic ran out of the room.

"Keep them safe. Please?" Ithil said before pixelating into nothing. Lance headed to the bridge to find them following Ottokar's orders.

"Flash them, we don't want to harm the ships." Ottokar said and Atraq nodded a beam of light surrounded the ship, blue in color. The ships that were attacking slowed the attack. "Try hailing again." Nagaz nodded and someone answered. "Olia? Nice to see some resistance out here, but could you stop shooting my ship?" The canine like commander starred somewhat wide eyed.

"Stop attacking!" The commander shouted and the other ships questioned the order. "That's the Guardian Angel! Stop shooting the ship." All of a sudden the attack stopped.

"The Guardian Angel?" Ottokar questioned. Lance also looked somewhat confused. The commander looked somewhat sheepish as they answered.

"That's what the resistance calls your ship. Same with the ones who you rescued. We all call your ship the Guardian Angel. Same with the ships with the blue lights. Sorry we attacked, we must not have been paying close enough attention to your lights." The commander seemed regretful.

"That's quite alright. Not too much damage have been done, nothing unfixable. How go things on the resistance front? Everything alright?" The commander looked back to the screen and nodded.

"Everything is going as smooth as it can, given the circumstances. We did catch word of a galra exchange of quintessence. We were thinking of jumping the trade if you want to join."

"How many?" 

"Ship wise we have seven, but they'll have several cruisers. We could use all the help we could get."

"I'll lend a hand, but if things get too dangerous I want you and the other fighters out of the area. Is that understood?" Ottokar asked and Olia nodded.

"Sure thing Cap." Olia said and had someone bring her some info. "The exchange happens in two vargas. Should we meet you there?" Ottokar thought this over for a bit.

"Why don't you dock in the bay and we could use that as a surprise tactic?" Otto suggested. Olia nodded with her agreement.

"Are we clear to dock now?" Otto thought this over.

"Yes, I'll meet you in the bay." Olia nodded before disconnecting.

"You sure it's a good idea to add their ships to our hangar?" Duner asked looking to Otto.

"It may be a tight fight, but it won't be for long." Ottokar said before heading to the door. "I'll go greet them. You all just carry about your duties, and Lance are you needing something?" Lance shook his head no.

"Not really. I was worried about the ship though." Nuk snickered slightly off to the side.

"Don't worry about her. She's a tough old bird, it'll take a lot more than a few resistance fighters shooting her to bring her down." Ottokar patted Lance on the shoulder and walked out the door. "You're welcome to join me if you'd like. Meet some of the resistance that's been helping Voltron." Lance trailed after, like a lost puppy. The resistance ships landed in the hangar, it was a tight fit but they managed. They seemed nice. Lance stayed quiet as Ottokar spoke with the group.

"Thank you Otto." Olia said then looked to Lance. "And you, human." Lance looked up.

"Lance. Name's Lance." Olia nodded and shook his hand.

"Olia. I'm head of this rag tag group." Lance nodded. He didn't really know what to say. These people have put themselves on the line for far longer than he's even known about aliens and such.

"Good to know. I'm uh, gonna head back to my room for a bit." Lance excused himself and went back to his room, missing one of the resistance fighters that walked up to Ottokar.

"If it isn't the guardian himself." The fighter said and Ottokar turned.

"Young Matthew. Good to see you again." Ottokar patted Matthew on the shoulder. "Still keeping up with your training?"

"Yeah, not as tough as you though. It's been a little difficult since I had to fake my death, but hopefully your involvement will help my dad find me should he end up there." Ottokar nodded, but left out the fact that his dad was on board and the fact that he's seen his sister.

"Just make sure you hover near the coordinates in case he should show up." Matthew nodded and looked to Olia. Ottokar turned his attention to Olia. "I'll need coordinates." Olia nodded and gave him the coordinates. "Be prepared for the attack. We'll be there shortly." Ottokar headed out and ran into Mo and Li. "I would like the two of you to keep the humans on board during the attack. Is that clear?" The two sentries nodded and went off to their specific human they were guarding. Ottokar went to the bridge and sat in his chair.

"Are you alright my captain?" Zovess asked Ottokar only shook his head.

"Peachy. What'll happen next? My nephew shows up?" Ottokar jested but the others tensed up slightly.

"Don't even joke about that. Last time he showed up we almost lost Atraq." Cinn said looking shocked. Zovess looked slightly disturbed as well.

"I understand that you are close with your nephew, but he's not all that friendly to the rest of us. He's not even that nice to you." Ottokar started to chuckle lightly at Zovess' comment.

"It won't be that bad. Besides I'm sure he's somewhere on the other side of the universe at the moment. We have a job to do though. Gear up, it'll happen sooner than you think." Ottokar got up and went to the panel Zovess was at, and typed in the location. "Just under a varga. No one is to try being a hero this time around, is that understood Duner?" Duner ducked his head with a small nod.

"Yes sir." The others chimed in their agreement.

"Lets go ruin a galra shipment." Ottokar said steadying himself before activating a wormhole.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I have this issue where I can come up with a lot of stories, and I start some of them but get so caught up in writing a new one that I lose track of what I'm writing. The reason I tell you this is because I have thought of yet another Voltron fic I'd like to read, but in searching it isn't quite what I'm looking for. So I was wondering if you think I should pursue this new Idea? I may make it a short thing and not multiple parts like some of my other stories, but just want to see who's interested.


	10. Chapter ten

"There's too many fighters out here, we can't hold them off." Olia said over the comms.

"Roger that. Get out of there, we'll take care of the stragglers." Ottokar said as he was leading the ground group. A small handful of rebels and a few of his crew were taking care of the galra planetside.

"Captain! Nagaz is down! A commander has us pinned." Atraq shouted over the comms. Ottokar looked over to Zovess. Zovess nodded and Ottokar headed back.

"On my way Atraq. Hold on." Ottokar said and started off in the direction Atraq and Nagaz went.

"We're trying. There's four others now, and there's more on the way." Atraq tried to sound calm but the panic could be heard over the comms.

"I'm almost there Atraq." Ottokar said taking out the sentries as he went. He came up behind the Galra that had his crew members pinned. "Hey, peach fuzz." Ottokar said gaining the attention of the Galra. Two of them seemed to panic slightly.

"It's the champion." One of them said earning him a blast to the chest from Ottokar's blaster.

"Good to see you back on Galra turf. Always wanted to challenge you." The commander said as he readied his weapon, which happened to be two short swords.

"What would possess you to think that I'm here on your terms?" Ottokar aimed his blaster at the commander.

"Nothing. You three, kill those traitors." Ottokar's eye twitched and he shot two of the Galra earning a growl from the commander.

"No one touches my crew." Atraq shot the last Galra leaving the commander alone in the hall.

"You'll pay for that you endangered species." The commander ran at Ottokar swinging his swords wide. Ottokar threw the blaster at the charging commander and activated the magic in his arms. The fight was mostly flashes of light as the blades were blocked by Ottokar's arms.

"And to think you're the master race of the universe." Ottokar said kicking the commander in the side. Ottokar started to gain the upper hand and knocked a sword out of his hand. The commander started swinging widely and leaving himself wide open for Ottokar to land a powered hit to his ribcage. "You fight too much with anger and not with enough thinking." Ottokar said sinking his hand into the Galra. "Perhaps you should have done more research on your opponent before challenging."

"But, you're..." The commander tried to form a sentence but he couldn't draw in the breath.

"An antique. Hopefully my next fight has a better challenger." Ottokar pulled his hand away and flicked his arm to rid the blood from it. "Wickchic, how we looking?"

"Seems some of the Galra are making a retreat. Those that are left seem to be the ones left on the ground." Wickchic offered from his position on the ship.

"Bring my angel close, Nagaz is down." Ottokar said.

"Right away captain."

"Zovess, I'm headed your way. Meet us at the shuttle." Ottokar went to Atraq and Nagaz. "How bad?"

"Shot in the side, think I broke something in my leg." Nagaz said as he tried to sit himself up. He let out a groan and his hand shot to his side.

"Eazy Nagaz. I'll help carry you." Ottokar said going to his uninjured side. Carefully Ottokar got Nagaz's arm over his shoulders and lifted the larger Galra to his feet, Nagaz groaning as he tried to balance on one leg. "Atraq, you'll have to cover."

"Yes sir." Atraq took the lead as Ottokar and Nagaz slowly followed. They made their way through the halls with Atraq shooting the sentries as they went. They soon reached the shuttle they took in and Zovess ran out to help them carry Nagaz into the shuttle.

"Get us out of here Zovess." Ottokar called as he laid Nagaz down on a bench. "You're gonna have to calm him so I can set the leg." Ottokar looked to Atraq. Atraq nodded and climbed up to cradle Nagaz head in his lap. As gently as he could Ottokar grabbed his leg and nodded to Atraq. Nagaz was breathing hard through clenched teeth. Atraq ran his fingers through thr fur behind Nagaz ears and leaned forward to lock their lips together. As soon as Nagaz relaxed ever so slightly Ottokar put his leg bone back in place. Nagaz let out a muffled groan and seized up at the pain.

"We'll be at the ship shortly. Hold on Nagaz." Zovess said from the front of the shuttle. Atraq pulled away to let Nagaz breathe a little. Nagaz let out a groan and rolled his head to the side.

"Thank you capn'." Nagaz grumbled and brought a hand up for Atraq to hold. "Think I'll fit in a pod?" Nagaz groaned. Ottokar put a hand over the blaster wound on his side.

"You'll fit. If not, you'll heal the old fashioned way." Ottokar looked down at Nagaz with worry in his eyes. "You'll be okay." As soon as they docked Zovess and Ottokar carried Nagaz out of the shuttle to find Lance waiting for them.

"What happened?" Lance asked as he trailed behind.

"Slight mishap. Can you run ahead to the medical room and prep one of the pods?" Ottokar asked. Lance looked confused.

"Me? You want me to prep one of the pods?" Lance looked to Atraq who had given him one of the angriest looks he'd ever seen.

"Yes you fleshie. Go now before you end up taking a second." Atraq practically shouted causing Lance to sprint into action, running ahead and prepping a pod for Nagaz. Ottokar and Zovess practically shoved Nagaz in the pod. Ottokar moving over to the panel and typing in the specifications. A frosty film covered the glass and muted their vision of Nagaz. Ottokar walked over and placed his hand on the glass.

"You'll be okay." Lance was shocked at the quiet raw emotion in Ottokar's voice. Staring at the captain the three had similar worried looks, knowing that Otto was reliving past memories.

"What should we do now Captain?" Zovess asked gaining his attention.

"What we do best. Let's go free more people." Ottokar said moving his hand and looking at Zovess. He left the room without saying another word. Lance looked to Nagaz then to Zovess.

"Will he be alright?" Lance asked turning to the door where Ottokar left.

"He gets like this any time one of us gets hurt." Atraq answered, since Zovess went quiet.

"Last time it was Cinn that almost didn't make it." Zovess snapped out of whatever stump was in. "We should get to the bridge Atraq. With Nagaz down we'll need your expertise." Zovess walked out, completely looking over Lance as he went.

"Don't mind him. Most of us get into a slump when something happens to one of us. Capn' and Zovess take it the hardest, seeing as how they've lost their crew before. You can come help us, or hang out in your room recording another message for your friends." Atraq walked over to stand next to Lance, looking to Nagaz where he was frozen in the pod to heal.

"How did you know I send messages to my teammates?" Lance asked slightly skeptical.

"I didn't know you were sending them, but I knew you were recording. You'll have to keep your voice down if you don't want captain to know." Atraq started to walk out of the room and Lance slowly followed.

"So you knew?" Lance asked as he sped up to walk next to Atraq.

"Yeah, didn't Nagaz say something about the vents carrying sound when Otto woke with his nightmare?" Atraq said with a small smirk. Lance blushed a little at being caught.

"So Otto doesn't know about my messages?" Lance asked. Atraq shrugged.

"No clue. If he does know he's keeping quiet for his own reasons." The two of them made it to the command center and Lance noticed there was a sentry at the station where Nagaz normally sat.

"Lance. You'll have to stay here while we go planetside. The locals don't like new species, that and they don't much care for Voltron either." Ottokar said looking over the map they had suspended over the empty space in the middle of the room.

"Uh, alright?" Lance said looking at the planets on their map. "Anything you want me to do here?"

"You could keep an eye on the cryopods. We'll be off ship for a few quintants." Ottokar said and Atraq turned quickly.

"Permission to stay on ship sir?" Atraq asked looking to Ottokar. The captain gave him a small smile.

"Permission granted. You'll show Lance how to clean the pods." Atraq nodded. "The rest of us will leave in three doboshes."

~~~~~

"The cryopods?" Lance asked as the sentries took their places while the rest of the crew left to go planetside.

"Yeah, we unintentionally saved some Galra but they were too injured for our healing pods so we had to put them in the cryopods. Until we can upgrade our pods or find better ones, the three we saved are stuck." Atraq said taking Lance by the hand and leaving the deck, passing Mo on the way out.

"Do you require any assistance Atraq?" Mo asked and Atraq shook his head no.

"I'll take care of Lance. We'll be in the cryo room for a bit." Mo nodded and let the two pass. Atraq led Lance through the halls to the medical room.

"I thought you were taking me to the cryo pods." Lance said as Atraq led him through the room.

"Cryo pods are healing adjacent." Atraq said pausing to look at the healing Nagaz. "Come with, I'll introduce you to my brother." Atraq said catching Lance's interest.

"You're brother? He's on the ship?" Lance followed Atraq to a door further in the room.

"Unfortunately he's one of the ones we rescued. Last I spoke with him we ended on bad terms." Atraq sounded sad as he spoke. The door was opened and there were three pods all frosted over with an obvious chill rolling off the glass.

"Which one's your brother?" Lance asked looking to Atraq who stayed by the door. Atraq stayed by the door but pointed to the first pod.

"He's the first one we rescued. He crashed his ship into the mouth of a robeast." Atraq was quiet, but Lance went over to the pod to brush some of the frost off.

"Ulaz?" Lance asked as he brushed more frost off the glass. "Your brother is Ulaz?" Atraq looked to Lance confused.

"You know my brother?" Atraq sounded almost jealous at this.

"He saved Shiro's life, back when he was in Galra hands. Then he saved all of us when he took out the robeast. We all thought he was dead." Lance said looking back to Atraq. Atraq walked up to his brothers pod and placed a hand on the glass.

"He always had to be a hero." Atraq whispered his eyes, looking glassy. "He's saved me from ridicule several times before. Back at the garrison." Atraq let out a sigh. "The others are blades as well. Zovess knows them better than I do." Atraq walked over to one of the other pods and grabbed a towel to wipe off some of the frost. "This is Thace. And the other is Antok." Atraq started wiping off the frost from the pod. "Grab a towel and start cleaning off a pod. It'll take a while to clean them well." Atraq said and continued cleaning Thace's pod. Lance picked up a towel and started wiping off Ulaz's pod.

"How does one accidentally save someone?" Lance asked being careful to get all the frost off.

"Well we've been trying to grab one of you paladins for a while now. First attempt was in that asteroid field. We have a teleporter, but after three attempts we realized that it only works on Galra and not humans."

"That means you've been following us for a while. I don't recall seeing a cruiser during our battles." Lance said and Atraq smirked looking to Lance.

"There's a lot about our home you don't know. With Ottokar's knowledge and his alchemic abilities we've been running under radar since he escaped. Our home has a lot of little quirks that make her special. Such as a thicker outer hull, most of the cruiser blasts from other ships don't do that much damage. There's also the shielding, a mix of Galra and Altean. You'd be surprised." Atraq cleaned the pod much faster than Lance did and moved on to Antok's.

"Does this mean the ship also has cloaking abilities?" Lance asked pausing his cleaning to look at Atraq. Atraq let out a huff.

"One of the first things Otto did to the ship." Atraq sounded proud. "He put the healing pods and these cryopods in as well. Among other things. The holo projectors in the training room, his memories. One of them is actually Altea. The stars in the projection are pretty accurate too. Stars you won't see the same again. He's got charts from Altea and Dibazal." Atraq continued with the cleaning and Lance couldn't help looking at Antok within the pod.

"That's Antok?" Lance asked almost dropping his rag. Atraq looked over to Lance with a raised brow.

"Yeah. Wait, you never seen him with his hood off have you?" Atraq just about started laughing. "Antok's a little unique among Galra. A half breed, with a dead race." Lance looked closer at Antok. Rounded light purple, ears peaked out of a thick black mane of fur. The mane peaked at the center of his forehead and circled his face lining his neck under his jaw, trailing down till mid chest. He also had a short muzzle, feline in design. 

"What race? Do you know?" Lance asked walking closer to Antok's pod.

"Sphinx I believe." Atraq said looking back to Antok. Antok's face matched his ears with a darker nose and short whiskers poking out from either side of his nose like a Lion's.

"Sphinx? That's a myth, something the Egyptians came up with." Lance said looking to Atraq.

"No, they're real. Or at least they were." Atraq paused in his cleaning and looked from Lance to Ulaz's pod. "Get back to cleaning. The pod will shut down if it completely freezes over. It'll ruin the circuitry and the pod will thaw and they'll die. I'd rather not have to gut you blue, but I will if my brother dies because you couldn't clean the pod right." Atraq said and Lance got back to work. Lance looked over the two clean pods with a sad look.

"If we somehow got these three to the castle ship, do you think the healing pods there could heal them?" Lance asked as he took care to clean the frost off the pod.

"Possibly. I don't know how they'll take it. I mean the last thing they probably thought was they were dying. In different situations no less. I'm sure they'd be surprised they've been healed several phoebs after the accidents they were in." Atraq finished cleaning Antok's pod and threw his rag to a table. Lance nodded and finished cleaning as well. He carefully put his rag on the table and looked to Atraq. He was staring up at his brother with a sad look.

"How long will Nagaz be in the healing pod?" Lance asked trying to bring Atraq out of his staring contest.

"A few more vargas." Atraq looked away from Ulaz. "Are you wanting to wait for him?" Lance glanced at the door and nodded slightly.

"Why not? It doesn't seem like there's much else to do on the ship." Atraq looked to Lance like he was contemplating something.

"We could kill some time in the training deck if you'd like?" Atraq said and left the cryo room.

"Sounds good." Lance followed him and stopped in front of Nagaz's pod. "He'll be alright yes?"

"Nagaz has been in many far more life threatening situations. He'll pull through a broken leg." Atraq said pulling Lance out of the room by the sleeve.

"I think he was shot in the side as well. Wouldn't that be life threatening?" Lance asked a little concerned at the lack of concern that Atraq had.

"Not really, he's had closer calls with intense play time." Atraq said and headed to the training room.

"Play time? I think Otto mentioned something about that, but he didn't elaborate." Lance said and Atraq paused. "What is it?"

"If Cap didn't explain it's probably something he doesn't want you involved in." Atraq said and opened the door to the training room.

"But what is it? You seem very secretive about it." Lance walked into the training room and Atraq set up the hologram system to an open field with a starry sky.

"A... Training exercise of sorts. Something Ottokar and his crew participate in to grow closer." Atraq said walking into the room and laying in the middle of the field.

"Training? Does it work?" Lance asked as he walked over to Atraq and laid down as well.

"You could say that. We all work better when we play." Atraq pointed up at the sky. "Look at those stars, the four right there." Lance's eyes followed where he was pointing. "Those make the constellation Vizax. One of the few I remember from stories of Dibazal." Atraq continued pointing out some other constellations and telling the stories behind some of them, or at least those he remembered. Lance listened quietly as Atraq recalled the names of the stars, getting a feel for what it would have been like on Dibazal. "The only reason I know this so well is because of Otto. He's taught me much more about my home planet than anything they told us at the garrison."

"Has Ottokar been to Dibazal?" Lance asked looking to Atraq.

"Yes. My husband helped my sister in some research when that comet struck the planet." Lance about jumped out of his skin when Zesia spoke. He turned and saw her kneeling on the ground next to him.

"Your sister?" Lance asked as he calmed down.

"Hmm. Yes, Honerva was lead scientist and my darling helped her on occasion. He also helped our king in building the lions of Voltron, having more of a connection with the creatures than the king did. He'd never be able to fly them, but he could speak to them." She straightened her skirt and looked up at the sky. "We never got to show our little angel these stars." Her tone turned sad. Lance frowned and looked up at the stars again. The three sat in silence for a bit before Atraq sat up.

"We should go, Nagaz will be out in a bit." Atraq stood to his feet and patted his legs.

"Something happened to Kitty?" Ithil practically shouted as she pixelated infront of Atraq.

"Only barely. He'll be okay." Atraq said. Zesia got up and placed her hand on Ithil's shoulder.

"Maybe we can get Atraq to bring Nagaz here and you could cuddle." Zesia suggested and Ithil looked to Atraq with big eyes.

"Please?" Ithil asked and Atraq nodded with a small smile.

"I'm sure I could persuade Nagaz to come down here." He turned to look at Zesia, "Would you like me to leave the stars?" She looked up as Lance got to his feet.

"Could you change them to Altea?" Atraq nodded and shifted the settings to Altean stars, there was a house off to the side and Lance looked at the sky.

"Come on blue, let's go get kitty." Atraq said and Lance left the room with him.

"Cuddle? I didn't peg him as a cuddler." Lance said looking back into the training room before catching up to Atraq.

"Why would you assume that he doesn't like cuddles? Most of the crew, if not all of us like to cuddle. Considering many were touch starved before Otto saved us." Atraq looked to Lance, but he only looked confused.

"So, you like cuddles?" Lance asked a bit skeptical. Atraq scoffed and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Yeah, what of it?" Atraq went a little defensive and stopped in the hall. Lance raised his hands in defense.

"No judgement, just curious." Atraq hufed and continued walking.

"I'm one of those that don't like cuddles from people I'm not comfortable with." Atraq continued walking not caring if Lance kept up or not.

"So I'm guessing you cuddle with the other crew members. Would you cuddle with me if you needed?" Lance asked feeling a little self conscious about asking. One of his arms crossed his middle and held his other arm. Atraq looked to Lance and his expression softened a bit.

"You are feeling touch starved being away from your team?" Atraq asked and Lance shrunk in on himself. "Do you have a mate on your team?" A blush flared up on Lance's cheeks. After a slight growl with Atraq looking away from Lance. "You're welcome to join our cuddle if you are inclined to." Atraq turned and continued walking to the healing room. He typed in some things on a panel and looked at the information there. Lance walked in and looked over the pod Nagaz was in.

"He ready yet?" Lance looked back to Atraq.

"Another dobosh or so." Atraq closed the panel and walked over to the pod next to Lance.

"Then he's all fine?"

"Depends. Sometimes after being in the pod the pain stays for a bit." Atraq shifted his weight from one foot to the other, staring up at Nagaz.

"They aren't like the ones on the castle ship, are they weaker?"

"Not as complete. It's due to the Galra parts. Some of the parts don't mix well with Altean alchemy. It's somewhat of a pain." The frost started to vanish from the glass that encased Nagaz.

"He's waking up." Lance said, Nagaz took a deep breath as the glass vanished.

"Easy Nagaz." Atraq said holding his hands up. Nagaz looked around and tested out his leg.

"I'm good Atraq." Nagaz mumbled and moved a hand to his side to check the damage. "I'm not hurt anymore." Nagaz looked up from his hand and noticed Lance. "Blue? You okay?" Lance nodded.

"Ithil said she wanted to see you. You good to move?" Lance asked and Nagaz nodded.

"Slowly." The three headed out and down to the training room where they sat on the ground next to Ithil and Zesia.

"Kitty!" Ithil cried nuzzling into Nagaz's lap. Nagaz smiled a bit and patted her head. Atraq also snuggled up to Nagaz before looking to Lance. Lance sat by himself looking at the stars, when Atraq cleared his throat gaining Lance's attention. When Lance looked over Atraq tilted his head to motion Lance over. Nagaz was looking at Lance as well and pulled the paladin to his side.

"Rest blue." Nagaz said as he purred.


	11. Chapter 11

"Keith, we're not trying to corner you." Shiro said as he Coran and Allura walked in on him in the training room with Pidge.

"Sure seems like you are. You keep following me around, hardly giving me space." Keith ranted as Pidge sent another gladiator bot for him.

"I'm not trying to. We're all just a little worried with how you've been acting."

"Not ture. I'm not worried, he's just Keith." Pidge piped in, looking up from her screen. "Hunk is in the same boat as I am. So don't go lumping us with you." 

"So then you're in on it too." Coran accused, taking a step closer to the two.

"In on what?" Keith and Pidge asked in unison. The three intruders paused, each one not wanting to voice their accusations.

"You've been in contact with Ottokar's ship haven't you?" Coran asked crossing his arms. Pidge and Keith looked to each other with raised brows but otherwise confused looking expressions.

"How would we have been in contact with them?" Pidge asked adjusting her glasses.

"Why would we be in contact with them? We all heard the verdict, that captain won't be giving Lance back for a while. A month now?" Keith speculated trying to do the math against the days since their last contact. Coran squinted a bit trying to figure out if Keith was lying or not.

"Alright, but what about that move you pulled on Shiro when you two were sparring? Where did you learn that?" Coran asked accusingly. Keith looked to Pidge and they both nodded, having come up with a plan of action if any one suspected them of contact.

"Pidge and I have been working on coming up with new fighting styles for a simulation she's been running. The move I used was one of the simulations we put together." Pidge hummed and typed away at her computer.

"A simulation? That's what happened?" Allura asked looking to Pidge.

"Yep. And I think I may have come up with another one, Keith." Pidge said and waved Keith over. Keith watched the simulation, which happened to be an outline of Lance from one of the disks he sent. It was only the torso and Pidge had covered the hair so that it looked less like Lance. The moves however was another thing that Lance was teaching Keith through the disks, and Lance was learning them from Ottokar. Coran, Shiro, and Allura had wandered over to look as well. Coran stared at the screen as the moves played.

"This is random? You sure?" Coran asked skeptical. The moves were yet another he had seen before the fall of Altea.

"Yeah. Completely random. Why something wrong?" Pidge asked, now it was their turn to be the ones under scrutiny. Keith was glad he clued Pidge in on this, without her both Keith and Hunk would be very clueless as to how to take care of situations like this.

"Nothing. Just thought I saw something where there wasn't anything." Coran said looking to the door. He was still skeptical of all this, but Pidge had the evidence to prove his theory wrong. "Carry on then. We'll try and give you more space." Coran left with Allura leaving Shiro alone with the other two paladins.

"Want to spar?" Shiro asked Keith and he nodded, looking to Pidge to mouth a thank you before going off to spar with Shiro testing out the new moves. After a while, Shiro left first, leaving Pidge and Keith in the training room.

"They're watching the feeds. Stroke of genius you are though." Keith patted Pidge on the shoulder.

"I know." She smirked up at him and closed her computer. "Let's go somewhere less nosy. I believe you have something you want to show me?" Pidge got up and let Keith follow her to her room. Keith had moved the disks a few days ago since Shiro had started to become more nosy.

"I haven't sent Lance any disk lately. And Shiro almost caught me when Mo brought me his disk." Keith said pulling the disk from his pocket. He played it, watching as Lance told them about what happened with the resistance fighters and Nagaz. "Think we should tell Lance that Shiro, Coran and Allura are getting nosy?"

"We can if you want to." Pidge said. "We still have three weeks, with the correct math, until he's returned to us. I'd say we won't have to many more disks coming or going in that time." Pidge said, and pulled out a disk for Keith to record his message.

~~~~~

"Alright are we clear in what our tasks are?" Ottokar asked from his seat. The crew all made their agreements. "Lance are you clear in your task?" Lance looked up slightly unsure.

"Yeah, we're raiding a Galra supply station. I'm paired up with you and Zovess, we're clearing the way for Wol, Skurr, and Cinn. They'll reprogram the station and we'll provide cover." Lance said with a nod. Ottokar hummed and motioned to Nagaz. Their ship docked and the crew readied themselves.

"Any trouble you are to notify me." Ottokar left with those words to Nagaz who nodded his reply. The small group of six headed to where they were docked and Ottokar took a steady breath. "When I say we leave, we go. No questions asked. That understood?" A chorus of 'yes sir' followed.

The doors opened and Lance, Ottokar, and Zovess took the lead, taking out any Galra or Sentry they came across. Making it to the control room was easy, it would take several doboshes for the new programing to take effect. While they were defending their spot for the moment, more and more Galra and sentries were coming. Ottokar, using his bionic eye to run the numbers, realized their time to escape was running slim.

"Zovess get them out of here. We won't make it." Zovess looked over after shooting a Galra.

"Yes sir." Ottokar's crew plus Lance left the room, letting the program run its course. They struggled to get to the door, but were so close. With a sigh Ottokar came up with a plan he knew his crew wouldn't like.

"Go Zovess, get the paladin back." Zovess dropped his guard slightly, as did Lance.

"My captain-"

"That was an order." His tone was firm and Zovess only nodded. The galra were closing in and the phaser fire was coming in harder, close calls happening far more often than they would like. Ottokar, out of the corner of his eye, saw a soldier aiming at Lance. Almost immediately Ottokar jumped in front of the shot, taking the hit to his shoulder.

"Otto!" Lance called looking the captain over.

"Get to the ship." Ottokar said ignoring the fact he got shot. His crew had to practically drag Lance back onto the ship. Zovess held his hand out to Ottokar.

"Captain." Zovess was practically pleading with him, knowing what he was going to do.

"Get the paladin back." Ottokar said and slammed the door shut on his crew. Zovess watched as Ottokar surrendered himself to the Galra force. Ottokar watched with a set expression as his ship left, closing his eyes when it was out of sight.

"That was foolish of you. Now you're trapped." One of the Galra foot soldiers said as he aimed his blaster at Ottokar.

"I'm sure it was. But no more foolish than you killing me, I doubt Zarkons witch would be too happy to find you killed her favorite toy." Ottokar said letting his bionic eye shift it's color from green to Galra purple. The soldier took a step back and looked to a sentry.

"Go send a message to high command. We've caught one of our lost prisoners." The sentry ran off leaving Ottokar with the rest of the Galra. "It's good to have a champion back." They laughed watching the unmoving Ottokar.

~~~~~

"We have to go back!" Lance said, or more rather shouted at Zovess as they headed back to the command center.

"We can't." Zovess said stern. His expression was hardened, but what he was feeling Lance couldn't tell.

"We can't just leave him there. We need to go rescue him, if it was you he wouldn't hesitate." Lance tried to stop Zovess.

"We can't go rescue him. There were too many and our numbers are too few. He surrendered so we could escape." Zovess pushed Lance out of his way so he could enter the control room. The rest of the crew was acting off, just like Zovess.

"We need to get him back. Why are you so against it? What are you afraid of?" Lance got annoyed looks from the rest of the crew members.

"We can't go back, I was given an order. And Ottokar surrendered so you wouldn't have been captured. He knows what happens when the Galra take you and he didn't want you or any of us to experience it. So just be quiet and let us work." Zovess snapped at Lance, startling him. Lance hadn't seen Zovess angry, or any other emotion really. But the humanity in Lance couldn't just sit by while Ottokar took the fall for him.

"He took a shot for me. I owe him to at least repay that debt." Lance said quietly looking to the floor.

"He'll find a way out. He always does." Nuk said putting a hand on Lance's shoulder. "Let's get you someplace calm." Nuk led Lance out of the command center where the tension was nearly suffocating.

"But what's going to happen to Ottokar? He's injured and in Galra hands. It's my fault." Lance crumbled in the hall and Nuk just sat next to him, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"It isn't your fault. Ottokar just has an odd sense of heroism. He probably blames himself that you could have been taken instead." Nuk attempted to comfort. Lance just pulled Nuk into a hug, confusing the Unilu to no end. Nuk patted Lance's back and let him sit quietly.

"He shouldn't have stayed. We could have gotten away without him doing that." Lance said shaking his head. Nuk sighed and looked down the hall.

"You know why he stayed, don't you?" Nuk asked, but Lance only shook his head no. "He stayed because he couldn't see his crew get hurt again. You've read his file haven't you?" This time Lance nodded. "I don't know how he did it the first time. But I know he wouldn't be able to see it again." The two sat quietly just sort of accepting the fact that Ottokar was now a prisoner.

Duner was the one to find them, as he was the one to leave the command center while everyone else took in the loss as well.

"We should get him to his room. Staying in the hall won't help anyone." Dunner said putting a hand on each of their shoulders. Nuk looked up with a nod, but Lance refused to let go.

"Think we could get the sentries to take control? We all need comfort." Duner thought over Nuk's request and patted Lance's shoulder.

"I'll speak with Zovess. But don't get your hopes up." Nuk nodded and watched as Duner walked off.

"We should move blue. Like Duner said being in the hall won't help." Nuk ran a hand through Lances hair, calming the paladin slightly.

"Yeah." Lance sniffled, but refused to cry. "Where should we go?" He looked up at Nuk and for the first time since getting back on the ship realized that he was actually with the Unilu.

"Well, I could take you to your room." Lance shook his head at that. He didn't want to be alone. "Or I could take you to mine. If Duner does get Zovess to agree we will all probably go to the play room for a group cuddle, would you want that?" Lance thought it over carefully, while Nuk carded one of his hands through Lance's hair and another trailed up and down the length of Lance's back. A calming gesture and Lance nodded.

"I'd be okay with a group cuddle. I don't want to be alone at the moment." Nuk hummed and rested his chin on Lance's head.

"You're not alone." Lance nodded and got to his feet with Nuk's help. "Maybe we can see if Wol went to the kitchen. He cooks as a way to work out grief." A half hearted huff left his lips. "First Nagaz now this?" After a moment of quiet Nuk looked to Lance. "Not all our adventures were bad though. We did save another of your species, and with you around the morale has lifted ever so slightly." Nuk attempted a smile, and Lance did as well.

"It's a fun crew." Nuk huffed a laugh.

"Yeah. Let's go check the kitchens." Nuk patted Lance on the shoulder.

~~~~~

"So you brought our original champion back to us." Hagar said as she looked over the two galra with Ottokar on his knees.

"He was attempting to destroy our supply station." One of the soldiers said, and Ottokar smirked a little to himself.

"Destroy? What would that accomplish?" Hagar asked lifting Ottokar's head up with a grip to his hair.

"What makes you think I'd tell you?" Ottokar said as he spit at her. She pulled away with somewhat of a hiss.

"Take him to Omega Khan. Let's see if that won't change your mind." Hagar snickered as she watched Ottokar get dragged away.

"Just know when I get out of this witch, you're still on my list. Right next to your husband!" Ottokar called with an even voice as he walked away backwards with the soldiers. He kept his eyes on Hagar the entire way, and watched as her expression fell at his statement. "Just remember, I will end you. The same way you ended my family." Hagar turned away first and walked down a different hall.

She walked till she was in the quiet of her own room, thinking over what Ottokar had said. 'What was he talking about?' She wondered to herself as she looked at the mirror in her room. She used her magic to go back in her memories. Only flashes came, screams, cuts, a child. She pulled away quickly, the child looked familiar something from long ago. A tear rolled down her cheek and she wiped it away quickly, not knowing why she was feeling sad. A knock sounded at her door and she was quick to turn away.

"What?" She called irritated and confused by her memories.

"We were wanting to know if you wanted us to be stationed at Omega Khan." Axca said as the door slid open. Hagar had turned around and saw that Axca, Zethrid, and Ezor were standing at the door.

"No, you are needed here. The champion needs time alone, he's far too dangerous to be around others." Hagar said looking to the side as she contemplated what she could say to keep them from poking their noses into things they shouldn't.

"Too dangerous? We were generals to prince Lotor. We can handle a prisoner." Zethrid said somewhat offended that Hagar would think they couldn't.

"He's been around longer than you've been alive. Fighting in the arena, he's more of a threat than Zarkon." Hagar said and the three looked to each other confused. 'More of a threat than Zarkon?' They seemed confused.

"What's our next assignment then?" Ezor asked trying to get this over with quick so the three of them could figure out how dangerous the prisoner is.

"You're to find prince Lotor. That is your assignment." The three generals nodded and left Hagar to her confusing memories.

"Find Lotor? Tell you the truth, I'm more curious about the new prisoner they brought." Ezor said as the three boarded a ship. "Who is he?"

"An original prisoner of the empire." Axca said from her seat.

"How do you know?" Ezor asked taking her own seat.

"I looked it up. He's an Altean, he was captured before Zarkon destroyed Altea. Tortured for information and used for experiments. He was also a gladiator." Axca continued scrolling through the file.

"What makes him so dangerous? And why is Hagar so keen on keeping us from him?" Zethrid asked.

"No clue. Aside the fact he's been around for about as long as Zarkon has, he seems pretty normal." Axca paused her scrolling, staring at the screen slightly wide eyed.

"What is it?" Ezor asked, noticing the shock on Axca's face.

"His family, he's Lotors uncle." Axca looked up to the other two in the ship.

"If he's Lotors uncle, then we should see if he knows where Lotor would go?" Ezor asked but Axca shook her head.

"I think Lotor would have mentioned having a living uncle. It's possible that Lotor doesn't even know this prisoner is even related to him." Zethrid looked up after thinking a moment.

"It couldn't hurt to check. I'd like to see what he's made of if he really is more of a threat than Zarkon." Zethrid shrugged a bit and the other two shared a similar look.

"This is a stupid idea." Axca said shaking her head. "We have to figure out where Omega Khan is."

"We could just follow the ship that's taking him." Ezor said pointing to the screen in front of her. "It hasn't left yet. We could still follow." Axca looked over the info as well and sighed.

"Guess we're following a ship."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So since I couldn't sleep at all I decided to write and got four other parts figured out... So why not post one? Anyways, about the other story I tried writing it but wasn't happy with it so I may hold off on it for a while. Who knows, maybe it'll turn into something completely different? As always I hope you enjoyed this part, despite all the scene changes. It'll start to pick up soon.


	12. Chapter 12

"Hn-aahhh!" The cry left Ottokar's throat as the druids sent an electric pulse through his body. Once the pulse ended Ottokar started to laugh, as he did when they first started torturing him all those years ago. The druid only tilted its head. "You think that's going to get you anywhere? Believe me, I've been through worse." Ottokar spit at the druid and the pulse began again. Once the pulse ended Ottokar glared at the druid, who seemed confused. "Why don't you take a break. You clearly don't know much about me, so go do some research." The druid only stared a moment before leaving. Ottokar sighed, somewhat relieved that he had a moment to himself.

He was restrained, not really in the traditional sense. He hung from cables in the center of the room. His right arm had been completely removed with a thicker cable and five or six much smaller cables plugged into the socket. His left arm was mostly attached, the druid had taken away his hand and about half of his forearm. Cables similar to the ones on his right side were attached to his left. His left leg was in a similar condition to his right arm. The bionic was completely removed with several cables plugged in. His right foot and ankle were gone, not as many wires were holding it in place. All the bionic parts rested on a table, pushed into a corner, and his eye was sitting at the top of the pile. No cable was in the socket, but without the eye he couldn't discern reality from mind tricks. A shudder left his chest as he looked around what he could of his room. Pretty empty, save for the table. No windows in front of him and the door was behind him. There was however a vent up towards the ceiling on the right wall. That vent, connected his cell to the one on the other side of the wall. One with a prisoner, who wasn't really that important to the Galra it seems as they didn't bother him too much. But that could also be due to the fact that Ottokar was there and the Galra do so love to make his life as miserable as they can.

"You alright?" A voice from the vent. Male, but other than that Ottokar couldn't really put a face to it.

"Peachy. I'm out for five years, steal a few ships, wreak some havoc. But now I'm back." Ottokar sighed as he looked to the vent. "At least my crew is safe. I don't think I'd be able to pull through again."

"You've been caught before?"

"Would have thought the out for five years would have given that away." Ottokar huffed out a laugh.

"Who are you?" The voice asked. Ottokar only shook his head.

"It's probably better we don't get attached to one another. Call me O if you need a name." Ottokar strained his hearing to be sure there weren't any soldiers coming to his cell.

"O? If that's how you want it, call me S then." The voice said with humor. Ottokar smiled a bit.

"You know S, in all the years I've been kept prisoner, I've never had a cell buddy. So what'd you do to end up here? This prison is at the further reaches of Zarkon's empire. Must have done something pretty bad if they wanted you out here." Ottokar said looking back to the vent, ignoring the hall for the moment.

"I may or may not have been partially responsible for the weakening of Zarkon. My... crew and I, we almost had him." S said and Ottokar nodded, not that the other could see it. "What about you? What are you in for?"

"This time? It was for trying to reprogram a supply station. All the sentries on board would have been reprogrammed. Would have been an easy take over since there were only supposed to be four soldiers on board."

"I'm guessing the information you received was inaccurate." Ottokar huffed.

"Like you wouldn't believe. Turns out there were eight other cruisers that were docking while were were doing our thing. My crew got out, but I stayed to make sure they were safe for the moment." It was quiet, and Ottokar could only assume that S was thinking things over.

"And what about before? Why were you prisoner then?" S asked, the sound of metal dragging along metal met his ears. 'S must be held in chains then.' Ottokar sighed.

"I was taken prisoner for my inside knowledge on the castle. The guard rotation, ways in and out, where the king would be." Ottokar got quiet as he spoke. And S went quiet too.

"I'm guessing by your tone that you eventually told them and it ended badly." S said. Ottokar sighed looking to the vent.

"I did alright at first. I was the only one they hurt. They cut me, beat me, electrocuted me, even branded me, but I never said a word. That's when they realized that I wouldn't break as long as it was only me. They brought my crew in, one at a time and tortured them in front of me. It got to the point where I was screaming the answers they wanted, but it wasn't enough for them."

"They killed your crew." S gathered. Ottokar sighed yet again, but looked to the table and stared at the bionic eye that was void of color.

"Yeah. My crew, my wife, my angel. All taken just so they could get rid of my King." The two grew quiet again and a druid walked back into Ottokar's cell. "Finally do some research?" The druid only tilted its head and looked to the door.

"This is him?" A woman asked from the doorway.

"He doesn't look like much." Another woman.

"Leave us druid. We have some questions for the prisoner." A third woman. The druid nodded and left, with Ottokar chuckling lowly and shaking his head.

"If you think you can pry answers from my lips, you are sadly mistaken. There is much you probably don't know about me." A woman stepped if front of him, she was pink with other colors on her single head tail. A half Galra by the looks of it. "You looking in the wrong spot if you want answers."

"We could always beat it out of you." The second woman to walk in his line of sight was bigger than the first, but also a half Galra.

"You could tear me apart, and you still wouldn't get anything." Ottokar sneered at the bigger one. The third walked over to the table with Ottokar bionics and picked up the eye.

"We know that won't work. We also have no leverage to force you to talk, we just want to ask you some questions." She held the eye in her hand as she walked closer. Ottokar tilted his head, but kept his expression blank.

"I'll give you a choice then. You can give me back my eye, or you can put it back and tell me who you are." Ottokar said, confusing the third, she was also a half breed by the looks of it.

"That doesn't make any sense. Why would you want our names over your eye?" The pink one asked looking to the eye in the third one's hand.

"It's simple really. You could tell me who you are yourselves, or you could give me my eye and I can figure it out myself. I do have quite the extensive database when it comes to Galra, and seeing as how you three are half breeds I wouldn't have to look far. Your armor suggests you three are generals. That'll narrow my search a bit." Ottokar said and the big one walked up and gripped his chin.

"What would you know?" She asked in a harsh tone. Ottokar only smirked.

"I know a lot more than you would think. Zethrid." At this she let him go in shock. The other two equally shocked, staring at him.

"How did you-" The pink one started, but Ottokar cut her off.

"Know? That is quite simple, but I find explaining rather boring. It's much more fun for you to figure out yourselves. But here's a question. Aren't there supposed to be four of you?" All three of them glared and the third one fisted her hand that wasn't holding the eye. "Oh, I see. Someone killed the fourth. Was it your prince?" They seemed shocked again, answering Ottokar's question for him. The third one put the eye back on the pile of bionics and walked up to Ottokar, drawing her dagger and holding it to his stomach.

"What do you know?" She asked, anger written on her features and Ottokar looked down at where the dagger rested against his skin.

"Go ahead and stab me why don't you. Maybe it'll make you feel better?" He suggested and leaned his head closer to her. "Not like I haven't been stabbed before." She held the dagger there, but sighed in aggravation.

"We came here to see if you knew where prince Lotor is." She said as calmly as she could. Ottokar creased his brows, confused slightly.

"If I'm your source for finding him. You're out of luck. He and I don't get along, I doubt he'd even care if I rotted here. What gave you the idea that I would possibly know where he is?" Her dagger pressed into his abdomen slightly.

"Tell us where he would go then. Surely family would know." She said and Ottokar laughed.

"Family? Have you tried asking his father? Surely he would know, after all the prince is his son." Ottokar mocked, she only dug the dagger in further, the tip of it embedded in his abdomen. Yet he didn't flinch, didn't make a pained sound or pull a face. He didn't even acknowledge that it was in his side. "Like I said before, if I'm who you're using to find him you're out of luck." He looked over to Zethrid and smirked a bit. "Your brother on the other hand, now that I might be able to help you with." Zethrid walked closer, and the third didn't remove the dagger.

"What do you know of my brother? He's been missing for four years." Zethrid asked and his face fell to a neutral one.

"Many things. I know who took him away from the empire." At this her interest piqued.

"Who took him?" She looked ready to cry, or kill someone. Ottokar couldn't tell, but he knew poking this bear would have consequences. Not all of them bad though.

"That my dear Zethrid is the question, now isn't it?" Ottokar said watching her expression closely. Without his bionic eye he couldn't read her as well. "How could I possibly know of your brother? How could I know who took him and where he might be?" He let her think it over when her expression turned to one of hate. She pushed the dagger the rest of the way into his abdomen and growled lowly.

"You took my brother! You monster! How could you? He was on his way to becoming a captain. He was succeeding where I couldn't. How could you ruin his life like that?" She ranted, trying to push the blade in further.

"Tell me, how often you searched for him. How many times you've tried to contact him? The answer is none. I gave him a home when the Galra were going to execute him for having a half breed for a sibling. The Galra he was with, ridiculed him for being the way he is. You don't think they would cover that up? I saved him. I took away all the pain they caused, and kept him informed of your doings. He's proud of you, you know. Becoming a general, to the prince no less. How do you think he's going to feel about your demotion? How your actions are going to kill his captain?" Ottokar asked and she stopped putting pressure on the knife. "Do leave it in. I'll die slower." She glared at him, but he turned his attention to the third one. "If I were Lotor and on the run where would I go? Why don't you ask yourself that question? That is my only advice." The three looked to each other before going to leave the room. "I will tell you this, since you three are no longer under prince Lotor and are doing what you can to stay out of the prison, you may have a place aboard my ship." Ottokar said but Zethrid only turned her head with a smirk.

"Yet you're the one in chains while we are free to come and go as we please." Ottokar only laughed slightly.

"You are only as free as that witch allows. Should you join me in my quest, you'll be as free as you wish. Just as your brother is. I must say, I hope they don't come to rescue me. It'd be a shame if you had to kill your own brother. I know he wouldn't be able to kill you." Zethrid got quiet, and after a moment the three left. "Think it over will you. I'd be most delighted to hear how free you'd like yourselves to be." The door shut leaving Ottokar to his room and vent buddy.

"I take it you know them?" S asked. He had kept quiet during the visit, not even the chains made a noise.

"Not personally. But I have heard of them."

"You said leave it in. What exactly was it?" S asked, sounding rather confused. Ottokar looked down at the dagger in his abdomen, he could feel the blood dripping from the wound.

"It happens to be a dagger. Small so it didn't go all the way through to my back, and Galra in design. It's a pretty blade too, I'm surprised they left it." Ottokar took his attention away from the knife and looked to the vent. "Since you heard our conversation I'm guessing you have questions?" Ottokar left the invitation open to have S ask anything he wanted.

"The offer you gave them, of joining your crew, if my team doesn't take me back- or if I can't face them- could I join?" S asked and Ottokar thought it over.

"Nothing official at the moment, but I'm sure we could find some room for you. What are you good at? There has to be something."

"I'm a fairly decent pilot. If you needed one." S said Ottokar only coughed a bit.

"I could always use pilots. I have plenty of ships, of all makes from my travels. Surely you could fly one of them." Ottokar tilted his head back, breathing in and out slowly.

"You alright?" S asked, Ottokar only huffed out a breath.

"The thing about me is that I have been through several experiments. Druid and mechanical. The druids dulled my pain receptors. Making it incredibly difficult to tell when I'm gravely injured. The blade in my side could have hit something vital and I wouldn't know until I passed out from blood loss. Something my crew has been known to keep track of. Kind of irritating at moments, but I'm alive because of them." It was quiet save for the shift of chains.

"Your crew? I'm guessing it's a new one. What are they like?" S asked, Ottokar sighed and leaned his head against his arm and closed his eyes.

"They're quite the rowdy bunch. Well sort of, it depends on what we're doing. We're all kind of different, not related in the slightest. Well that's not really true, I have three brothers on my crew. The rest of us have grown close, come to think of each other as family. I'm sure you'd fit in. Keeping me talking is a form of caring, they'll take you in for keeping me alive." Ottokar opened his eyes and looked over to the vent. "Thank you S."

"Sure thing O. You have any kind of idea on how one would get out?" Ottokar looked around.

"Last time I got out, there were resistance fighters. Maybe this time we'll get lucky and the same thing will happen. That is assuming that they haven't updated their security. The power will have to go out in order for me to escape. When I do, I'll help you out as well." S laughed a little.

"I'll hold you to that." Ottokar sighed loudly.

"Right. Now it's just a waiting game."

~~~~~

"It's been a week Keith. I can't help but feel like it's my fault. He jumped in front of the shot meant for me. We can't find him and Zovess says we can't go rescue him. We don't have the numbers for a rescue, at least that's what he says. I don't think that's the case. I think we just don't have the resources. We don't have voltron." Lance waited a bit looking down to the desktop. "I have to help him. We have to help him, I'll be back in a week so please, we have to help him. Have Pidge and Hunk help you with a plan to rescue. I'll look to see where the Galra took him. We could use voltron, help him and together all of us could take the Galra down together. With, Ottokar and his ships, the Blade, Voltron, and all the resistance fighters. We'd be able to take the Galra head on. We could win." Lance turned his head to the door as he heard footsteps. "I have to go, I'll see you soon samurai." Lance ended the message just as someone knocked on his door.

"Lance, we're to be meeting up with another of the ships in our flock." It was Nagaz on the other side of the door. Lance got up and took the disk with him.

"Alright. You need me on the bridge with the rest of you?" Lance opened his door and looking up to Nagaz. Nagaz looked stressed, his ears pulled back and a worried expression had melded to his face. Lance put a hand on Nagaz's arm. "It'll be okay. I need to get something to Mo first then I'll help you on the bridge." Lance delivered his disk to Mo, and told him to get it to Keith as soon as he could. He headed up to the bridge where the others were and noticed the overall gloomy mood that clung to the room like a thick smoke.

"Lance, could you help Nagaz with the communications?" Zovess asked not looking up from the screen in front of him.

"Sure." Lance walked over to Nagaz and waited for some instruction.

"I've got this. You being here lightens the mood." Nagas whispered to Lance as bumped his shoulder. The two were quiet, as was the rest of the ship. They all worked quietly but they soon came in contact with the other ship.

"Where is the captain?" The other one asked looking over the crew.

"He was taken. We come with new coordinates for you to get to. We need you to patrol a new area. Ottokar's orders." Zovess said and sent the coordinates through the communications. The other captain nodded.

"Should we rally our forces and rescue the captain?" One of the soldiers on board the other ship asked. Zovess sent a slight glare. The one who asked happened to be a blade and had been reporting to Kolivan about what was going on.

"We can not. Ottokar gave orders that we were not to go back for him. A decision I don't agree with." Zovess let out a low growl. And the ones on the other ship looked concerned. With Ottokar missing in action, Zovess took the spot. One that he didn't want to have so soon, at all really. "You are not to speak of this to Kolivan. Is that understood." The blade nodded.

"We'll keep you posted." The captain said ending the transmission.


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took so long to post this... Hopefully you enjoy it.

Lance had fallen asleep on the bridge, cuddled up to Nagaz's side. Some time later, since Lance had fallen asleep, the others joined him. When Lance woke up he couldn't really move, the crew had taken him to a different room and were all cuddled around him. Atraq was wrapped around his back and Nagaz had his arm over the both of them. Zovess was cuddled against Atraq's back with Wickchick laying over the top of them. Although he couldn't see them he could hear the snores of the balmearan brothers, they were cuddling somewhere near his feet. And with a tilt of his head, he could see Nuk and Duner were resting near his head. Lance let out a yawn and returned to cuddling, attempting to get back to sleep.

"We have to give you back in a few vargas." Zovess mumbled and moved his arm slightly, to rub the sleep out of his eyes. The others started to wake with their own mumbles.

"Can't we sleep a while longer?" Nagaz mumbled curling up a bit, nuzzling against Lance.

"Just a few more doboshes. Then we have to get the ship to the castle, we have to give Lance back." Zovess said and sat up, jostling Wickchick from his sleep. Lance turned his head and glanced at the others around him.

"What if I chose to stay? At least for a little while longer?" Lance said, causing the others to sit up and stare at him wide eyed no matter how sleepy they had been.

"As much as I'd want for you to stay, as we'd all want you to stay, we can't. We were under strict orders to return you today." Zovess said patting Lance on the shoulder over Atraq. The others looked to Zovess with a sad look before nodding.

"We all knew this day would come. We just didn't know we'd be seeing it without our captain." Wol said quietly looking down.

"Let's get to it then." Wikchick said and got up brushing off his pants. He looked to Lance sadly and walked out of the room. "I'll pack your bag and get Samuel ready." The others started to get up and leave the room, Zovess and Nagaz were the last ones in the room with Lance.

"Can I say goodbye to Zesia and Ithil?" Lance asked looking between the two Galra.

"I'll set it up for you." Nagaz said patting Lance's shoulder. Zovess looked to Nagaz and sighed slightly.

"Go, I'll get things ready." Zovess left the room leaving Lance somewhat confused.

"Ready for what?" Lance asked but Nagaz shook his head.

"Ready to give you back. We've all grown quite attached to you. Let's go get you to Zesia and Ithil." Nagaz led lance to the holodeck.

Zovess walked onto the bridge and looked to the captain's chair.

"You're all dismissed. I can take over from here." Zovess said looking to the other crew members that were on the bridge as well. They nodded and left the room. Zovess went to his computer and typed in some things, finding the location of the castle of lions. It was pretty easy, considering the fact that the Galra had such trouble finding them. He set the coordinates and piloted the ship to the area. It took a while since they didn't have use of the wormhole device. When they got close enough the castle ship was on defence, shields up and four of the lions out and ready to attack. So taking a calming breath, Zovess sent a signal for communication. They answered, Allura and Coran on the video feed with Lotor as well. "We do not wish you harm. Only to uphold our prior agreement." Zovess said and Allura glared slightly.

"And where is your captain?" Allura asked. The crew and Lance entered and looked to the screen almost freezing at the sight of Lotor.

"Zovess we can't send Lance back." Atraq said bristling in anger and standing in front of Lance. Zovess held a hand up and shook his head.

"Our captain is gone. The galra took him, but as stated before, we are upholding our prior agreement and returning the blue paladin. Despite the snake you have on board your vessel." Zovess said and Lotor walked closer to the camera.

"Frenock." Lotor said quickly looking pained. The crew calmed down a bit, but the others looked confused. "Is my uncle really gone?" Lotor asked confusing Allura.

"Yes." Zovess answered. "He surrendered so that the paladin could be safe." Lotor looked down thinking things over. "Now princess, the passage of the paladin could be tricky. We could send him in his own ship or you could have one of your lions pick him up. The choice is yours. Same with the other human. He will join the paladin. They have their things and are ready to leave." Lance looked to Zovess before turning his attention to Allura.

"Wait. I'm not leaving until you agree to help save Otto." Lance said earning a scoff from Allura.

"We can't agree to that. He took you away from us, we can't risk losing you or others by going after him. I won't agree, and we wouldn't even know where to look." Allura said and Lotor looked up.

"How long ago was he taken?" Lotor asked already he was thinking over all the prisons he knew of.

"Three weeks." Zovess answered in a grimm tone. Lotor paused and looked to the screen.

"Three weeks? And you decide now is the best time to tell someone? He could be anywhere now." Lotor tried to keep his voice level but his concern was breaking through.

"The witch has him. That much we know, the soldiers we fought off said they'd bring him to the witch." Skurr said, as he's been known to be on better terms with Lotor since he's really the only one who hasn't been targeted. "Where would she have put him?"

"We can't go after him. We were to return the paladin and continue the work. Should we happen across him in the time then and only then would he accept our help." Zovess said trying to get back on the subject of getting the humans off the ship.

"What if voltron were to rescue him?" Lotor asked looking to Allura. She scoffed and crossed her arms.

"No, not even happening. I won't risk my paladins for one altean. One who had kidnapped Lance."

"And he's the one who kept me safe. Any time we went out he always was the one who had my back should something happen. The last mission we were on, where he was captured, he got shot because he jumped in front of me. Why do you hate him so much?" Lance asked but Allura only looked away.

"He's part of the reason that Altea fell. That my race is gone." Lance scoffed slightly.

"Did you even read his file? He's lost just as much as you have, maybe even more." Lance tried to defend Ottokar.

"Lost more than I have? I've lost my family, my home, my people. How has he lost more than I have?" Allura looked to Lance with a challenging glare.

"You didn't have to watch. My captain was forced to watch his family, friends, and his home die. He has nightmares because if it. You are just mildly inconvenienced." Lance said irritated. The crew looked at him slightly shocked, Lance had referred to Otto as his captain.

"Your captain? Lance you're a paladin." Allura seemed shocked as well by his outburst. Coran looked up and took a step closer to the screen.

"Lance you belong here my boy. We can talk about this." Coran said trying to be the calm one, even though he has hatred in him for Ottokar.

"No. You hate him because of Zarkon. If Zarkon hadn't caught him and tortured him for information would you hate him this much? I think your hate is poorly placed." Lance huffed. "If you won't help him I'll find him myself." Zovess walked to Lance and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Lance you have to go back, but you can not go after Ottokar yourself. It is much too dangerous even for a lion of Voltron. Leave Ottokar to himself, he'll find a way out as he usually does." Lance sighed heavily.

"Fine, but only Keith or Pidge are to pick me up. Maybe Hunk, but only those three." Lance said surprising Allura.

"May I come to your ship Zovess?" Lotor asked and Zovess looked aside.

"It isn't my ship, but you are welcome so long as Frenock is true." Zovess said, and Lotor nodded.

"Believe me. I am just as much an outcast as my uncle. We're both being hunted by Zarkon's fleet." Lotor said and looked around the room. "Princess, call your paladins back. I'll join the red, green and yellow ones as they go to get the blue." Allura looked away and sighed.

"I'm not having my paladins all leave. Only one will go. And you have to stay here." She glared at Lotor and he only returned the stare.

"I am not your prisoner, as you've said before. I wish to pay my respects to my aunt and my cousin." Lotor said taking a step closer to Allura.

"Allura, you have to let Lotor come, or I won't go back." Lance said earning a huff from Zovess.

"Enough. I'll be bringing the humans back and will accompany Lotor to this ship. Is that understood?" Zovess said pinching the bridge of his nose. Allura looked angry, but didn't have a rebuttal. Zovess gripped the back of Lance's neck and pulled him to the door. "If any of your ships attack mine, I will be forced to retaliate. If I have to attack any ship of yours I will kill the paladin." Zovess said darkly, glaring at Allura.

The flight was quiet, mostly anyways. Lance was pouting to himself while Sam looked around. Zovess was quietly brooding as he flew the ship to the castle. He landed in their shuttle bay, and Lance didn't want to move. Zovess let out a low growl, and Lance still didn't move. Being slightly irritated as he was he picked Lance up and threw him over his shoulder. Sam followed after and Zovess only took two steps onto the ship before dropping Lance on the ground.

"What do you think you're doing?" Keith shouted as he burst into the room. The other paladins and the three others entered the room. Lotor was the most calm of the group, while the green paladin charged in and pulled Sam into a tearful hug.

"Returning the paladin. He didn't want to get off the shuttle." Zovess looked to Lotor. "You ready to go prince?" Lotor nodded a little and walked towards the shuttle. Allura stepped in his way causing Zovess to take a third step into the castle ship.

"You are not leaving." Allura said and Zovess huffed.

"Do not make this harder than it should be. I will take the prince to my ship and in three vargas I will return him. Any shenanigans and you will force my hand. I ask you let this be, I'd rather not have to let Ottokar know he's the last of his kind." At this Allura glared, but stepped out of Lotor's way. Lotor bowed his head and continued walking to the shuttle. Zovess didn't move until Lotor was on the shuttle.

"Three vargas. No more." Allura said and Zovess nodded. Zovess boarded his shuttle and flew off. Keith pulled Lance into a hug and held him close.

"You find anything?" Lance whispered, looking around carefully.

"Not yet, we're still looking. He has to be out there somewhere." Keith answered. "Pidge was looking, but we were almost caught. Shiro doesn't know and I don't want him to. You already know how Allura and Coran feel about it." Keith pulled away and looked to where the shuttle was. "We have three vargas until Lotor's back. We should catch up on the time we missed." Keith said and glanced to Pidge, she was still holding her father. Hunk walked over putting a hand on Lance's shoulder.

"What cool things did you do while you were on that ship?" Hunk asked, even though he'd seen the disks Lance had sent. Lance grinned and started telling them everything cool he went through.

Lotor had wandered to the holodeck to talk with Zesia and Ithil. The three had concocted a plan that he could enact. He'd tip off some of the resistance fighters, and hopefully that'll help Ottokar with his escape.

"So no going after Ottokar right?" Lotor asked Zovess and got a nod in response.

"My captain wouldn't be too happy with us going to rescue him after he chose to save our lives by sacrificing himself. We can't go after him. Although that doesn't mean we haven't kept tabs on him." Zovess said looking to the side like a kid caught with the cookie jar.

"So where is he? You know just for informations sake." Lotor asked.

"Omega Khan. They've updated their security, but there is a weak spot to where given the right tools a ship could disable the power to the cells. No power to the cells means they can't keep Ottokar chained. If he can find a way out that prison then the ones posted there will be in trouble. So if I were to go after him, not that I would, I would take a small fleet and fly in as debris. Then when we're close enough I would fire on the power block and make sure it was destroyed. Then attack the back up generator, as soon as that is finished I'd get all the ships I brought in with me out of there. Ottokar will follow when he's on his feet. That's how I would go about rescue. But as I can not go after my captain myself I wouldn't follow that plan. I have to continue on with my captain's work."

"I know I can't go after him either, as I am helping the paladins. But I can't say the word would be kept. There are ways of this information leaving this shuttle." Lotor put a hand to Zovess' shoulder. "We'll find my uncle. He'll make it out, he always does." Lotor said and sighed as they boarded the shuttle.

"I hope so. I don't think we can go on if he doesn't. You've seen what we're like when he's not here. I'm afraid if he's gone for good our mood would only worsen." Zovess said as he piloted the shuttle back to the castle."Keep the Altean's out of this. They don't much care for my captain." Lotor nodded with a small laugh.

"They don't much care for me either. Don't worry, if I know my uncle, he'll be fine. If not a little battered." Lotor looked out the viewing window and watched the castle come closer to view. "Can't say that I like going back to the castle. It's not as bad as my father, but not as good as it could be." Lotor sighed heavily and Zovess repeated the gesture.

"Should my captain return, I will find a way to inform you. Even though some of the others wouldn't like it I'm sure my captain would allow you to join us." Lotor smiled somewhat sadly.

"That would be much appreciated. Thank you Zovess. And how goes it with your brother?" Zovess growled lowly.

"He's still the same. He still thinks Ottokar did something to me to make me loyal to him." Zovess said scowling out the front window. Lotor smirked and laughed lightly.

"Well strictly speaking he did do something to you, but I'm sure it was mutual." Zovess turned his glare to Lotor.

"It isn't my fault that he was assigned to me as a pleasure pet. I didn't know he would essentially be the one to save me." Zovess looked back to the window and piloted the shuttle.

"You know I think he's saved us both." Lotor patted Zovess on the shoulder and they landed in the castle ship. Lance was the first one to rush towards the shuttle.

"Zovess!" Lance called attempting to board the shuttle only to have the Galra stop him.

"You are to stay here Lance. You're place is no longer on our ship." Lance glared at him.

"You can't keep me away from your ship forever. I will find a way back, I made a promise to Ithil." Lance said and Zovess tilted his head confused.

"You made a promise to her?"

"I promised her I'd introduce her to my friends." Lance went to say something else but his face turned red and he looked away.

"And to a further extent your mate." Zovess smirked a bit and patted Lance on the shoulder. "You will have to hold off on your promise until my captain has returned. Until then you will not board my ship." Zovess said pushing Lance a couple steps away from his shuttle.

"But you said you weren't going after him. I can't just sit here and hope for the best." Lance tried arguing. Zovess shook his head and looked up slightly to see some of the other paladins.

"You will be a paladin. Continue with what my captain has taught you." Zovess clapped Lance's shoulder and turned to go back onto his shuttle. Keith ran up and pulled Lance by the elbow.

"When will you be back?" Keith asked somewhat quietly. Zovess shrugged.

"Not until my captain returns. Even then, I'm not sure we'll be welcome." Zovess turned to board his shuttle.

"And what makes you think that I'll let you leave?" Allura asked as she approached. Zovess leveled her with a glare.

"If you think you can trap me on your ship you are mistaken. After all you are working with my brother, he didn't take kindly to me joining Ottokar's side. What would he do if he knew you kept me hostage?" Allura paused thinking her actions over. "I am far more an adversary than you give me credit for. Have you fought with Kolivan before, Ottokar maybe? Both have trained me, you sure you want to pick that fight?" Zovess left the challenge hanging for Allura to consider.

"Is that a threat?" Allura challenged.

"No. I'm simply stating facts. Let me leave your ship, and we won't bother you unless the situation is dire. As you've known we've been working apart for several years and didn't cross paths once. I don't think it'll be too hard to avoid your castle." Zovess walked onto his shuttle leaving Allura to think things over.

"We can't just let him leave." Allura said looking to Coran, Lotor walked up and got their attention.

"You are poking a bear. Attacking them is the last thing you'd want. They are far more powerful and resourceful than the usual Galra you face. Let them be, they won't bother you unless it's important." Lotor said and walked to the door of the room. "Lance? Perhaps we could go over some of the training you've learned while on my uncle's ship." Lance perked up a bit and followed with Keith tailing him.

"He's really your uncle?" Lance asked as they all left the room. Lotor smiled slightly and started to tell him stories of Ottokar as he knew him.


	14. chapter 14

Ottokar's vision was fuzzy, going in and out as he breathed heavily. The druids had their fun and left him be for the moment. The blade that was once in his side laid somewhere on the ground, the wound cauterized some days ago. The brand on his back was redone and the flesh was still red and burning.

"You okay O?" S asked, Ottokar had to focus his energy to look to the vent.

"Still breathing. If that's what you're asking." Ottokar 9answered slowly, closing his eyes to ignore the faint pain that rested deep within. Even though his pain tolerance was unusually high, he had his limits and the druids just loved pushing them.

"That smell. They cauterize another injury?" S asked, Ottokar huffed out a laugh that turned into a cough.

"No. They redid the brand on my back." Ottokar rested his head against his arm and looked to the ground.

"Brand? They branded you?" S sounded shocked? Worried? Ottokar couldn't tell his mind was fuzzy, but slowly starting to come around.

"Yeah. Their logo. It's just under my shoulder blade." Ottokar leaned his head back with a sigh, thinking back to when he had first gotten branded. "Just under a phoeb. That's when they branded the first time."

"What do you mean?" S asked.

"After capture. Before they really got into the torture. I've lost track of how many times they've done it. Still hurts every time though." It grew quiet between the two, Ottokar listening to the sounds outside his cell and drifting off every now and then.

"Still with me?" S asked. Ottokar chuckled lightly.

"You're determined to keep me talking aren't you?" Ottokar looked to the vent again and sighed. "I'm still alive, how are you?"

"A little hungry, but I can't really complain. I'm not getting tortured like you are. To be honest I think they've forgotten about me." S sighed but Ottokar only huffed another laugh.

"They haven't, believe me. I'm sure they're monitoring us as we speak. Seeing if we can get the other to spill anything about their crew. Believe me, they haven't forgotten you." Ottokar sighed to himself and looked to the table with his bionics, before looking over the floor for the dagger left by Lotor's ex generals. He found it just under where the vent was. "I'm guessing they don't want to hurt you too badly." S huffed before the chains rattled against the floor.

"I doubt that. They've already thrown me in the arena, I doubt torture is much different." This time it was Ottokar that huffed.

"You can take my word for it, the two are very much different."

"You were in the arena as well?" S asked.

"Yeah. The years muddle together after a while. But I'll never forget the feel of a victory, no matter how hard I try." Ottokar sighed shaking his head. "No amount of water can rid the feel of blood." He got quiet and neither said a word for a while.

The lights flickered drawing Ottokar's attention to the ceiling. Not a moment later did a loud rumble echo through the halls.

"What was that?" S asked, probably in the same state of curiosity as Ottokar was. Another rumble and the lights flickered before finally going out.

"My guess, someone trying to get us out." Ottokar said, looking to the wires attached to his limbs. The violet glow they had slowly dimmed before detaching one wire at a time. His left arm fell free first, dangling at his side. His right side fell soon after and he hit the floor with a thud.

"You okay?" S asked. His own chains rattling in attempt to escape.

"Peachy." Ottokar mumbled as he put his weight on his left elbow, dragging himself over to the table with his bionics. "Gotta put myself back together before I can do anything though. It'll be a bit before I can get out." He made it to the table and carefully maneuvered himself to get his left hand reattached.

"Put together? How do you mean?"

"My bionics. They can reattach themselves, a healing function if you want. That witch thought it was a good idea before realizing that I could use it against her. She couldn't take it away, but the later bionics she's made don't have the same feature." S hummed loud enough to be heard through the vent. 

Ottokar put his arm up on the table and got it close enough to the other part and it pulled itself together. He flexed the fingers one joint at a time, rotating the wrist and slowly moving it around. He adjusted himself to sitting and pulled the wires from where they were connected. He then looked back to the table and grabbed his eye, putting it back in place. As his eye was adjusting he grabbed his right arm and held it in place while it reattached.

Footsteps could be heard running down the hall, but it didn't seem that the guards or sentries in the hall had any interest in checking the cells. Not wanting to take any chances Ottokar quickly pulled his leg pieces off the table and set them up so they could attach. Once they were attached and adjusted he got to his feet and grabbed the dagger. Going to the door it was sealed shut. With a sigh Ottokar activated one of his arms, the one not holding the dagger, and cut open a part of the door so he could pull it open.

"Give me a bit S, I'm almost out. I'll make sure the hall is clear before getting you out." He said looking out in the hall, noticing the lights were out, and the one emergency light was flickering.

"Go, I'll be safe in here." S said with a hint of a laugh. Ottokar nodded and went out into the hall. There were three sentries and one guard in the hall, all of which were taken by surprise. But according to radio chatter Ottokar wasn't the only one causing trouble in the halls, they didn't know who else was causing trouble. Ottokar could only assume one of three things, another prisoner, a rogue guard, or whoever was attacking earlier. He went back to the cell he was in and went to the door next to it.

"I'm coming in S." Ottokar said activating his arm again, lighting up the hall. He cut the door and pried it open with his arms. Looking into the room, lit up by his arm, a look of shock painted itself on his face.

"I take it you're O?" S asked, or more rather Shiro asked. Ottokar tilted his head in confusion.

"This isn't possible. How are you here?" He asked, his bionic eye scanning Shiro but not finding a single difference from the Shiro he saw on the castle ship.

"I don't know. Last I remember I was fighting Zarkon, then nothing." This Shiro said and Ottokar squinted in disbelief.

"So you don't know who I am?" Shiro looked confused.

"What do you mean?" Ottokar smirked figuring out this, or the other Shiro, was a clone.

"Because if you remembered me, the first thing out of your mouth would have been 'Where's Lance?' Seeing as how you didn't say that I can assume you are not the same black paladin I have met." Ottokar said and walked closer. Shiro tensed up, but couldn't move very far because of the chains.

"What have you done to Lance? And what do you mean the same black paladin? Who are you?" The questions flew from his mouth as this Shiro looked Ottokar over. "You're bleeding." Shiro stated as his eyes fixed on the once cauterized wound to his abdomen.

"Never mind that. I'll explain later, but at the moment we have to get you out of here. If you are here, that means Allura is in trouble." Ottokar moved quickly and grabbed one of Shiro's wrists undoing the cuff.

"Where are we going once you get me out of the cell?" Shiro asked as Ottokar undid the other cuff. He pulled Shiro to his feet and practically dragged him to the door.

"Find a ship, get to my angel. Then we inform Allura of my recent findings." Ottokar led Shiro out into the hall and kept watch for any movement. "Here, we don't want you lighting up the hall." Ottokar said handing the dagger to Shiro. He took it confused.

"What will you use?" Shiro asked as Ottokar pulled him along down the hall.

"I'm rather deadly without a weapon. I held the title of champion for far longer than you." Ottokar said, he turned a corner and ran straight into Axca. She went to attack, before she realized it was Ottokar. "Axca."

"Ottokar." She said quietly. Upon further scan Ottokar found Zethrid and Ezor were behind her. "We were coming to free you."

"And why, pray tell, would you do that?" Ottokar said pulling a hand back in case she tried anything.

"We thought it over-" Axca started but was cut off by Ezor.

"We want to join your crew." She was excited, or somewhat close to it. She seemed a little skittish, perhaps afraid of the dark?

"Or at least see what it's like not being under the control of Zarkon's witch." Zethrid said putting a hand on Ezor's shoulder, making her jump slightly.

"Don't cause trouble and I'm sure we'll be fine. Now we need a ship off this prison." Ottokar said and swayed a bit. He moved a hand over to his side and covered the open wound. "Any ideas?" The three looked to each other before Axca nodded.

"I may have a ship. Follow me." She said and the small group followed as she took seemingly random turns before they ended up in a shuttle bay of sorts. "Can you fly?" She asked looking back. Shiro had one of Ottokar's arms over his shoulders and was helping him walk slightly.

"I can do it. Just get me on a ship. I'll find my angel." Ottokar said getting quieter towards the end. They boarded a small transport shuttle, similar to the one that Ottokar was brought on. Axca looked over Ottokar carefully and a look of concern crossed her features.

"You sure you're good to fly?" She asked. Most of her worry came from the fact that the wound was in the same place Zethrid stuck the dagger.

"I'll get us to my angel. Don't you worry." Ottokar stumbled as he went to the pilots seat. He took the controls and closed his eyes. A faint violet lit up his hands and a screen popped up, the image moved quickly before stopping on a cruiser, his cruiser to be exact. "There she is. She's close." Ottokar took the controls and piloted them out of the prison. "When we arrive I'll need to speak with my crew about you three. And you, paladin, you'll have to join me on the bridge." The four riding passenger shared worried looks and stared at the back of the pilots seat. After a moment of silence Ottokar huffed. "Is that understood?" He asked in a slightly irritated tone.

"Yes sir." Shiro answered quietly. His worry grew as he didn't know how badly Ottokar was bleeding, and he was acting as if he wasn't injured. The flight was quiet.

As they approached the cruiser Ottokar stopped the shuttle.

"What are you doing?" Ezor asked confused as to why they weren't flying closer.

"This isn't one of my shuttles. We have to communicate that we're friendly otherwise I'm sure they'll attack." Ottokar said with a slight huff of a laugh. "I'll show you." He fired one blast straight in front of the cruiser. The cruiser in turn increased the brightness of their lights before they dimmed again. He smirked and looked back. "See. Now we can approach." He turned back and flew the ship into the shuttle bay. "Guess I've got myself a new shuttle." Ottokar said landing the ship. He stood up quickly and looked to Shiro. "Follow me, and try to keep up. You three stay either on this shuttle or in the shuttle bay. You so much as take one of my shuttles unauthorized it will be shot down." Ottokar said and leveled them each with a stare. "Assuming you know the layout of a cruiser you can come to the bridge when I call." The three nodded and Ottokar left the shuttle with Shiro following. On the walk Ottokar put a hand to his side again. When he entered the bridge his crew stood and faced the door, somewhat shocked when they noticed Shiro with him.

"My captain?" Zovess asked and he held a hand up.

"We need to get to Allura. She could be in danger." Ottokar said going to his controls. He pulled up the control for the wormhole device and looked to Zovess. "Coordinates?" Zovess nodded and pulled them up, putting them in the system for a jump.

"My captain. You should know, your nephew is on her ship." Zovess said glancing over Ottokar to assess damage. He noticed the blood smearing over the controls before noticing the injury to his side. A small laugh left his throat as he shook his head.

"Funny you should mention that. His used to be generals want to join my crew. Or well three of them do. Lotor killed one for being that witch's spy." Nagaz paled slightly and turned around quickly.

"My sister?" He asked quieter than he's ever spoken. Ottokar shook his head.

"Narti." They exited the wormhole and Ottokar looked up to see the castle ship in front of them. "Open a channel." Atraq nodded and sent a hail for them, but they didn't answer.

"No response." A growl left Ottokar's throat and he glared at the screen.

"Again." Atraq tried again, this time they answered. "Allura." Ottokar greeted as he stood to his feet. She went wide eyed looking at her screen, although that was probably his fault. He was dressed in only a pair of shorts and he was bleeding from his side.

"Uncle." Lotor said looking at the screen.

"Allura, I'm afraid I have some grave news." Ottokar said looking over the ones on the screen. It was Allura, Coran, Lotor, and Shiro. She squinted in distrust.

"How can I believe you?" She asked and Ottokar sighed heavily.

"If it weren't important would I have come to you bleeding and in a state of undress?" Ottokar asked and looked over to the Shiro on his ship, who happened to be out of camera range. His Shiro was staring at the screen in disbelief. "I have reason to believe the witch has cloned one of your paladins." Ottokar said and Allura huffed.

"That's not possible." Ottokar sighed and swayed a bit on his feet.

"Then maybe you'd like to meet my vent buddy." Ottokar said and waved for his Shiro to come closer. His Shiro was only stuck in his state of confusion. Zovess reacted before Ottokar could move, he pushed Shiro into view. The four on the screen froze, looking at him in confusion. "So either you have a spy on your ship, or it's on mine." Ottokar was speaking slower and swaying more. "Just thought you'd like to know." With that he swayed a bit more and caught himself just barely, but with his hand that was slick with blood. He slipped and fell to the floor.

"Uncle!"  
"Captain!"

Lotor and Zovess shouted at the same time. Zovess and Atraq ran to his side and looked him over. Ottokar was breathing heavy and his eyes were barely open.

"The Generals. In the bay." Ottokar managed before passing out.

"He's bled too much." Atraq said and Zovess looked to him worried, his ears pulled back and eyebrows angled. Atraq put his hand over the wound. "He'll have to go to cryo. The pods won't help now." Atraq looked up just as worried. Skurr had walked over and knelt down next to Zovess.

"I'll carry him. You deal with the mess he brought us." Skurr said and picked Ottokar up, under his arms and knees. "Atraq, can you get a pod ready?" The shorter galra nodded and ran ahead of Skurr and the two got Ottokar in a cryo pod next to Antok.

"You're putting him in cryo?" Lotor asked voice breaking at the end. He'd been on the ship and had wandered to the cryo pods, knowing that the ones in cryo were only in a frozen state of near death, unable to heal.

"You know the healing pods are inadequate. They can't help him." It was at this moment that the other paladins entered the command room and looked at who they were talking to.

"Zovess?"  
"Shiro?"

Lance and Keith overlapped their questions and they got the attention of three, Zovess and the two Shiro's. Zovess sighed and looked to the bloodied controls at Ottokar's seat.

"My captain has returned and brought with him this Shiro. He can't see a difference between the two which is troubling. That is why we are here." Zovess said dragging his eyes to Lance.

"Is that blood?" Hunk asked his eyes fixed on the controls.

"Where is Otto?" Lance asked, also looking to the controls.

"He's in cryo. They're putting him in cryo." Lotor said somewhat irritated at the fact he couldn't help.

"Cryo? Won't the healing pods help?" Lance asked. This time Wickchic growled a bit.

"The healing pods won't work. They're made with galra parts so they don't work like the ones on your ship." Wickchic said irritated.

"Can't he come here?" Pidge was the one to ask earning a look from over half the people talking.

"As much as I would want my captain to be healed, I doubt your princess would let us use the healing pods for our benefit." Zovess said glaring slightly at Allura.

"But what about the blades? Surely Allura can allow them to come over for them to be healed." Lance suggested but it fell on deaf ears.

"My captain will remain in cryo until this dispute is settled. But that is beside the point at the moment. My captain brought us to you with this Shiro at the expense of his own health. What are we to do with them?" Zovess asked looking to the Shiro on his ship.

"You said my uncle couldn't tell them apart. How is that possible? I thought his bionic could detect it down to the dna?" Lotor said bringing a hand to his chin in thought. Zovess looked down confused by this as well.

"I'm not entirely sure. If the scans his eye did revealed them to be the same person, then that proves that one or both is a clone. Either way the witch could use both to spy on our ships." Zovess let out a sigh. "If only he weren't so badly injured, he'd be able to come up with a plan to separate them from the witch's control." Both ships grew quiet in thought. Allura let out an aggravated groan and glared at Zovess.

"You can bring him to my ship and we can heal him in one of our pods. And you'll bring that Shiro as well." She said turning her glare to the other Shiro. Zovess looked to the Shiro on his ship and thought it over a bit.

"Let's land the ships. We need to do some repairs from our last mission. Would you like to find a planet or should we?" Zovess asked before looking to the captains seat, his stomach twisting slightly at the blood.

"We'll find a place. You can follow us." Allura said looking to Coran. He nodded and typed away on his computer.

"Can you guarantee his safety?" Zovess asked looking back to Allura but she only tilted her head.

"Why do you ask that? I'm not going to kill him when he's half dead already." This earned her glares from all of Ottokar's crew.

"You don't seem to care if he lives or dies. I want to know that he'll be safe on your ship while he's healing." Zovess said in a clearer voice. She looked shocked.

"Of course he'll be safe. My ship is probably the safest in the universe." She seemed irritated that Zovess would think otherwise.

"If I recall your ship is number one on the galra list. Making it the worst place for him to be." Zovess pointed out. Allura pouted slightly.

"We'll call a temporary truce for the time being until we get this Shiro situation taken care of." Allura said and Coran piped up.

"There's a moon not ten clicks from here. A suitable atmosphere for humans and Galra alike." Allura nodded and Coran sent the coordinates to the ship.

"We'll meet you there. Once we are landed, if you'd allow, I believe Lance has a promise to keep." Zovess said looking to Lance. Lance looked confused for a minute before lighting up.

"My promise to Ithil!" Lance called out. Allura looked torn between her hatred for Ottokar and her love for her paladin.

"If you'd feel more comfortable you could accompany him. I'm sure Ithil and Zesia would be surprised to see you." Zovess said but Allura kept quiet. "Think it over. We'll meet on the moon." Zovess cut the transmission and looked to his own panel. "We'll clean the blood later." A sigh left his mouth. "We still have generals to deal with don't we." He looked to Nagaz, who looked like a kicked puppy. "Can you go fetch them? We need to get some rules laid out before meeting with Allura. Not to mention Lotor." He sighed and piloted the cruiser towards the moon. "Just another quintant." Nagaz had left the room to go meet the ex generals, even though he was sad about his captain he couldn't hide the excitement of seeing his sister again.

The three ladies sat bored on the shuttle, debating on whether or not this was a good idea.

"What do you suppose happened?" Ezor asked looking at the other two. Zethrid shrugged and turned to Axca.

"He was bleeding pretty bad. Maybe he overexerted himself?" Axca looked to the door of the shuttle and grabbed her blaster, ready to fire at who ever approached. Even though the footsteps were light, almost not even there, but she could hear them faintly. "Who goes there?" She asked as the door opened. Her eyes widened at the Galra that stood in the door. Ezor jumped up and stood next to Axca. Zethrid stood there shocked almost teary eyed.

"Zeth?" He asked as soon as his eyes landed on her. She jumped into his arms and wrapped hers around his neck.

"Gaz!" She said somewhat broken. "You're alive." She sniffled and held tighter. Nagaz tightened his hold and buried his nose into her shoulder.

"I never thought I'd see you again." He whispered. The two others on the shuttle shared confused looks. After a bit Nagaz looked up slightly. "You brought friends?" He asked loosening his hug and standing a bit taller, but still slouching as the ceiling was lower than his full height.

"Uhm, yeah. This is Axca and Ezor. They were generals with me." Zethrid sniffled slightly and turned in his hold. Axca and Ezor looked to the siblings confused. "Guys this is my brother Nagaz." Ezor was the first to move and looked Nagaz over.

"So your size runs in the family?" She asked earning a huff from both siblings.

"I hate to make this short but we're meeting with Allura." Nagaz said changing the subject. "My captain was badly injured, our healing pods won't help. The ones on Allura's ship might be able to fix him."

"So what's the problem?" Ezor asked putting her hands on her hips.

"On Allura's ship are the paladins.-"

"We know that." Axca interrupted, and Nagaz glared at her.

"Lotor is also on her ship." At this the three women stiffened slightly. "Both ships agreed to not hurt anyone, that goes for you three as well. We know of Lotor's past deeds, so please, for the sake of my captain. Don't hurt him no matter how bad you want to." Nagaz's ears dropped and a worried frown settled on his face. "Please?" At this the three looked to each other and sighed.

"Alright. But if any fighting starts, we will not be held responsible." Axca agreed for the three.

"If you would like, I could hide you somewhere on the ship." Nagaz suggested. The three shrugged before Ezor and Zethrid looked to Axca.

"That could work. There won't be anyone poking around?" Axca said and Nagaz shrugged.

"I can think of a few rooms they'll avoid if they decide to tour the ship. I can hide you there." After a moment Axca nodded.

"Alright."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So now im at a loss for where to take this story... I thought I had an idea, but it wasnt working out. Anh suggestions?


	15. Authors note

I would like to apologize for my lack of posting. I had lost motivation to write for a while. When I went to continue writing the app I was using for the story wouldn't open for me and took a while before I could get it working again. Then life got in the way and I'm currently in the middle of moving, so it may be a short while before I can post an actual chapter, but I haven't abandoned this story. I am sorry that I haven't been active, I'll try to get a chapter posted by next month at the latest... I hope. Till then I am sorry.


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